Boomerang
by McMahonHelmsleyEraFan
Summary: Hunter throws Stephanie's love away and hopes it comes back on its own. Stephanie's very hurt and upset at what he did and is moving on with her life, refusing to make the first contact.
1. Giving Up

Hey all! So, An idea has been brewing in my head for the last week or so. I know exactly what I want to do with this one plot-wise. It'll be short – no more than 10 chapters. Let me know if you guys are interested, by reviewing (Really, favorite-ing the story is awesome but reviews are so, so much better! And they motivate me more LOL). I've already started on chapter 2 of this one...and I'm also working on some ideas for "Master Plan"...so, I hope you all enjoy this – and if you don't, don't be shy to let me know! :-)

Stephanie smiled dreamily at her husband Hunter. This was _exactly _what she had in mind. Here they were, renewing their wedding vows, expressing the feelings to each other that they so rarely did. She loved this moment but at the same time, she wished it didn't have to be this way. Why was Hunter only willing to be open with her when their marriage was in a world of trouble?

It shouldn't be akin to pulling teeth to draw out the softer side of her husband. To get anything out of him it seemed she had to be beaten up, sick or he'd have to had fucked up in some huge way.

Things were going to change. That's part of what this was about. This was their fresh start.

"I see you for what you truly are..." Hunter began before taking a deep breath.

_I know this is hard for you, but come on baby. Tell me how you feel about me. You have no idea how much I need to hear it._

"A no good, lying bitch!"

_I-he-uhh-what? _Her thoughts stammered as she blinked in shock. What the hell had gotten into him? She racked her brain, trying to think of what she'd done wrong this time. And came up with nothing. Over the past couple of weeks she'd practically been a saint. They'd been inseparable. And happy. Really, really happy! Hell, backstage he'd seemed happy. He gave her a gorgeous, new ring, ashamed at the one that had symbolized his love for her – though that ring was also great. They'd even had an intense kiss before they parted. He was fine then. Better than fine. _He was fucking splendiferous! What the hell? Is he bipolar?_ She panicked inside her own head, not being able to force her mouth to say any of the things she was thinking.

"How could you do this?" He yelled at her.

"Do what?" She questioned. _There, words! Progress. Keep with the forming of sentences._ Her head was starting to hurt. A lot.

"How could you do this to me?"

"What? I don't what the-" she began and was cut off as her absolutely furious spouse continued.

"You wanted this so bad that you would lie? That you would use my emotions against me? That you would hire an actor to play a doctor?"

_He's so angry...And he's not making any sense whatsoever! _She screamed inside her head again. Back to square one, it seemed.

"You never gave a crap about us!" He accused her.

"Wait! Wait one damn minute" she began and was cut off as he waved his hand in her face dismissively.

"Well you won't have to worry about 'us' anymore."

_Dream! That's it I'm dreaming! Nightmare, really. Worst, subconscious fears tend to appear in dreams. I'll wake up any - _she pinched herself on the arm, felt the sting. _Not a dream. Oh God. OhGodOhGodOhGod. Why is this happening?_ She was going to cry any second.

"Our marriage...as of right now it's over!"

Tears. So many tears were clouding her vision. She didn't understand anything. Not why he was doing this to her. Not why he went from blissfully happy and sweet to angry and cold. And the fans: why the hell were they cheering? She was clearly the victim in all of this. Sure she said horrible things over the years. But everyone should be pitying her – not egging her ridiculous husband on.

"We. Are. Through," he told her slowly. Stiffly.

Everything that happened afterwards was somewhat of a blur. Vince, her father had gone and physically provoked Hunter with a shove. Hunter knocked him around. Hunter then tore up the ring and all of the wedding decorations they'd scrambled to pick out over the last week. Her father got back to his feet, only to be pedigreed.

Red. Somehow, through the tears, she saw red. Maybe it was her anger at the audacity and irrationality of her husband. Maybe her vision was tinged because she felt like she was literally in hell at this very moment. Whatever it was, it compelled her to give Hunter a piece of her mind.

"You stupid asshole! What the is your damn problem? Huh? Why are you doing this?" She screamed at him.

Before now, she hadn't considered it possible. But, somehow he got even more angry than he was before. So angry that he grabbed her by the face and shoved her to the ground. When her body made contact with the ring, she looked up. She felt: shocked, hurt, angry, confused. Maybe more so shocked and hurt. Okay, really, really hurt – that was the dominant emotion, she decided. She flinched when Hunter threw his wedding ring at her.

Watching him leave the ring, words escaped her. _Thoughts _escaped her. Instinct just took control of everything she had inside and came out as a bloodcurdling scream.

_I can't breathe. I can't fucking breathe this air...it's-it's toxic! It's awful. Drives people to do and say all sorts of nutty things. I need to get out here. Need to get out before the air corrupts me, too._

Stephanie had a plan. A good plan. _If I know Hunter, which I do – well, better than most people anyway...is it possible to ever really know Hunter because I sure as hell did not see the renewal of our vows going down that way, _she rambled inwardly. _He's taking a shower now. Probably. And if he isn't, well hopefully he doesn't object to me retrieving my things. Maybe he won't be there at all. That'd be best. Except if that meant he's already gone to the hotel! What a disaster that'd be, he'd probably burn my clothes on the stove and toss them over the balcony into the pool. And do a celebratory ritual dance as he watched the fire die. _

_No, that's too much. He's not big on dancing. Or feeling anything other than irritation. And of course, glee when he gets to beat the crap out of people. _

_Hell, hurting people in general seems to be his most enjoyed hobby. In the ring and outside of the ring. To his opponents or to his wife. I'll be damned if he did not enjoy what he just did. How did I manage to fall so head over heels in love with this cruel, cruel human being? Just an asshole without provocation. Ugh! Stop thinking about him and walk faster. _

Stephanie's face scrunched up as she cringed, letting her knuckles rap lightly against the door three times. Hard enough so that if he was in the room he would hear it, reply...and she could...well, run away most likely. She decided she'd rather buy new clothes and accessories before talking to him again. The knock was light enough so that if he – as she desperately hoped – was in the shower, he wouldn't hear it.

Letting out a relieved breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, she turned the knob and stepped into their locker room. Quickly, she flitted around the room, throwing things into her duffel bag. In record time she was done. Zipping her bag, her head snapped up as she heard the shower water stop. She tiptoed to the door as fast as she could and slipped out, with Hunter none the wiser.

Vince half-staggered his way down the hall to her as she neared the exit of the arena. "Stephanie, there you are!" He exclaimed.

Slowly, she hugged her father, not wanting to aggravate the bruises that were surely forming. "I'm so sorry that you get beat up, Dad. I don't know what the hell is going on."

"Neither do I, Princess. But, I'll make damn sure we find out."

She shook her head. "I don't care. It doesn't matter anymore. There probably isn't another family in existence that manipulates, deceives and screws over its members the way ours does..."

Vince gulped. They'd buried the hatchet, right?

"But, in my 25 years of life, none of you have hurt me more than Hunter has managed to, in less than 3 years of marriage. More than he has managed to hurt me in the last 30 minutes, even."

"What are you saying, baby girl?" He had never seen his daughter look so defeated. Not even when he had revealed himself as the "Higher Power," admitting that he'd used her as a pawn in his game of chess with Stone Cold Steve Austin. She'd been hurt, no doubt. But, she recovered quickly enough to team up with her mother, Linda, to get him back. There'd been fire in her blue eyes, underneath the hurt. But now? She just looked like a wounded puppy. There was no fire, no fight.

"I'm saying I'm done with Hunter. I don't have much left in me emotionally. I-I-I've got to save what I have. Stop wasting my energies trying to save a marriage he clearly doesn't want to."

"Steph," Vince began, unsure of himself. He took a deep breath. "Stephanie I'm certainly no fan of Hunter, that's for damn sure. Especially not after what just happened out there. But, he is this child's father. From what I heard out there, it sounds like he thinks you lied to him."

"That's exactly my point, Dad," she shook her head sadly. "I don't know what happened – I really have no clue. But it doesn't matter. Whatever is going on, it's causing him to believe that I would lie to him about this. It doesn't matter what it is. The sheer fact that he'd rather give into that doubt and just...end us, speaks volumes. So, no. No, I'm done with him. That," she said, gesturing towards the direction of the ring, "was my last attempt at saving our marriage."

Vince nodded. That was understandable. "What about the baby though?"

"Oh, I'm keeping my baby...Hunter or no Hunter. But, I'm not going to initiate anything with that man. If, for whatever reason, he decides to seek me out someday to talk about this, I will gladly tell him he was mistaken. I won't purposely keep him from his child. But Dad – I told the man I was pregnant and look at how he acts. I'm done. I did everything I could. The ball is in his court."

"Steph...you know he's stubborn. If you're waiting on him to come to you..." Vince trailed off, shaking his head doubtfully.

She held up a hand, dropped her head. When she lifted her head, her blue eyes were filled with tears. "I know. I don't plan on holding my breath for that." She took a deep breath to calm herself. "I need to get out of here – beat him to the hotel so I can get my stuff without having to see him. Then I need to go straight to Greenwich and pack up what I need from there, too."

Vince's bulky, sore arm came around his daughter's shoulders as he pulled her close to his side. His heart ached for his youngest child as whatever had been holding her together, fell apart. She sobbed for what seemed like forever, ruining his dress shirt entirely. He wasn't quite sure what to do. He'd hated Hunter for a good half of his career. Respected his abilities, but hated the personality that accompanied those abilities. But, he had put it aside and come to accept him as a son-in-law because his daughter was absolutely overjoyed to be with him. And, Hunter protected Stephanie physically. Vince was grateful for that, as well.

But what was he supposed to feel about Hunter now? His only daughter was absolute wreck because the moron thought she'd faked a pregnancy. As much as he wanted to crush him, for the jerk he was, Vince knew he couldn't do it. Stephanie would never forgive him for it. So, he did the only thing he could: call and arrange the things Stephanie had asked for, while he tried to comfort her.

Hunter picked up his phone and scowled at it for the tenth time in the last hour. If he knew Stephanie, she wouldn't take this lying down. She would contact him – even if it was just to curse him out and remind him who she was.

When he got out of the shower, he had half-expected to see her perched on the couch, ready to try to talk her way out of the mess she'd created. He'd gone over several scenarios in his head. He felt reasonably prepared to fend off her mental games.

Much to his surprise, Stephanie was nowhere in sight. All of her stuff was gone, too. The fact that she'd obviously been within speaking distance of him and not...well, said anything...he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Offended? Maybe. Surprised? Definitely. But, there was something else there that he hadn't quite identified. He was still too angry to think about his feelings, beyond the obvious.

Whatever it was, it intensified when he reached the hotel, to find her stuff gone from there, too. Was she just giving up? What the hell? Stephanie didn't give up! She just...didn't! Stephanie was the most tenacious, stubborn woman he had ever encountered in his entire life. When Vince had her escorted out of the ring by security a couple months prior she'd left kicking and screaming. Literally. She'd plopped down to her knees and clung to her father's leg until security yanked her off. If she had been able to overpower security, she'd have stayed put. Physics – that was the only thing that could ever stand in her way successfully.

And that was for her career. A job. So, how could she give up on their marriage so easily? Especially when she was clearly the one at fault here. She lied to him. It was epic, really. As a wealthy man, with wealthy friends, he'd certainly heard of women lying about a pregnancy before. But Stephanie was never one to be outdone! She pulled out all the stops – hiring the fake doctor, flying him to Smackdown to "examine" her and conjure a sonogram. She'd put a lot of thought and effort into this. Then again, maybe the fact that they were married and had history together necessitated going all out for her fiasco. The other women he'd heard about had been flings and one night stands.

_But still! _She got caught. Her plan was foiled and he let her know it in the most humiliating way he could think of. As a McMahon, she was stubborn and proud – it was written into her DNA, for Christ's sake! He mused that on Stephanie's chromosome 17 or something was a little node that said: pigheaded, egotistical, megalomaniac. Somehow, someway she always managed to get just what she wanted. And if she screwed up her plot along the way, she'd bat her eyelashes, pout and act generally pitiful until you felt bad enough to give her what she wanted. Sometimes an apology wasn't even necessary – she was _that _good!

Yet, for her job she actually was willing to apologize – even if she did blame her actions of trying to overthrow her father's company, mostly on her brother. But for her marriage? Nothing yet. It made no sense. _She made no sense!_

No, her silence made no sense unless Stephanie had thought about the situation in its entirety and decided.

_Our marriage isn't worth it, _Hunter thought to himself.

And in that instant, he knew. And he didn't like it one bit – but, that previously unidentifiable feeling was pain.


	2. Making Moves

Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews, you're all awesome.

The update/new story feature is still being mean to me...and since I'm out of town on spring break my internet access is a little limited. So, I decided to go ahead and get this (and the other story I started writing) out today! As always, let me know if you enjoy it! There might be some typos, which I'll try to correct when I have better internet access :-)

Arena, April 2002

Hunter sat in his locker room, bored and bemused. It seemed Stephanie had fallen off the face of the planet or something. The last time he saw or spoke to her was during their wedding vow renewals. Since then, nothing. She hadn't come to any of the live events. Hadn't called, text messaged, e-mailed, snail mailed or even sent a goddamn _messenger pigeon_ to him.

At the very least he had expected some form of retaliation from Vince. But it had been 2 months. And nothing!

_What the hell? _He thought. The last time he checked, he wasn't exactly on Vince's list of allies. In fact, he was sure that the beating he gave Vince warranted being put on the old man's shit list.

But nothing happened. And nobody said anything. Nobody mentioned what happened that night. Ever. It was almost like it hadn't happened.

Come to think of it, no one even mentioned Stephanie's name. It was like she never existed.

He should have been pleased. He mandated that their marriage was over. What guy wouldn't dream of having his estranged wife bow out their marriage quietly?

But great goodness, he was just so..._bored! _

The rage that he felt at Stephanie's audacity to not contact him had been taken out on various wrestlers. And none of them bothered to retaliate against him. Not even when he'd used unnecessary weapons.

They just took their loss and moved on. Hunter was desperate to start a feud. Find something to preoccupy and amuse himself with so that he didn't think about Stephanie.

_I wonder where the hell she is, _he wondered absently. Either nobody knew, or nobody was telling him. He couldn't be sure, because he hadn't had the guts to actually ask anyone. How pathetic would that have been?

The only comfort was that she was alive. Upon returning to the home they'd shared in Greenwich, he found that all of her personal items were gone. Appliances and furniture remained relatively untouched: she only took her coffee maker that he never used and her scoop chair that he was too big to fit in.

As far as he could tell, she had made no move to make their broken relationship legally broken. Every time his doorbell rang or there was a knock on his hotel room door unexpectedly, he'd opened it, fully intending to beat up the carrier of any legal documents, before ripping them to shreds. But, no carrier and no documents had reached him. He was baffled.

_Maybe she's going to file for divorce on grounds of abandonment. _That didn't quite fit Stephanie either. Then again, none of this did. Stephanie was the most infuriating woman...no. She was the most infuriating person he had ever met in his entire life. Only she could manage this much control over him without even being present. It was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous and Hunter had had just about enough of it. If Stephanie didn't do something soon; he would.

Stamford, Connecticut

This was a decent move. A good move, even. Stamford was a really safe city, full of corporate headquarters, restaurants and transportation options. Her parents home in Greenwich was about a 15 minute drive away and Shane's home in New York City was an hour away.

Best of all, most of the current roster didn't need to come here. Her new job was to oversee talent contract negotiations. Thus far, all she had to do was draft up a fair offer for performers and send one of her subordinates off to get it signed. Vince had the final say and hadn't had any issues with what she was offering wrestlers. Her department was running smoothly and she'd adapted her life to fit the routine her position called for. She had to admit, the schedule was much less grueling than being an on-screen performer. She didn't have to tour all over the country; she could put down roots again.

The nature of her job was complex, but she'd managed to make it simple enough by doing a cost-benefit analysis of each wrestler she offered a contract to. Really, her decisions weren't all that difficult – she knew the values of most of the current roster. And even if she didn't, a portfolio of statistics, training and accomplishments was always available in the company database, to aid in the decision.

All in all, she was doing quite well on her own. Her base salary was in the low three-hundred thousands, per year and came with a lucrative benefits package and bonuses. Technically speaking, her household income was a good 4 times that amount when she'd been with Hunter. His base salary, combined with performance, appearance and merchandise sales bonuses completely obliterated her income. But, she'd had her trust funds to even things out. Purchasing ECW had wiped out most of that. Then her income became zero after her father officially fired her. Upon her return, with Hunter, she received nothing. She was more like a VIP guest than a valet or performer.

During her days as a performer and valet, she'd pulled in one-hundred thousand dollars less than her current salary and had few benefits. Medical expenses came out of her own pocket. It was seriously annoying because of how often the men of the wrestling world decided it was okay to beat up women. That was another reason she was grateful for her new job: she was able to pull in a high salary without risking her...or more importantly, her baby's safety. She'd be able to give her child a stable life where they actually both lived in their home regularly.

As the days went on, the number of people who recognized and stopped her on the street, diminished. She kind of liked it. Not being in the limelight was becoming pretty cool. She felt like a normal, everyday person. Sometimes it was unexciting, but most of the time she relished the newfound time she had to simply...be.

The only thing missing from her newly optimistic world, was her child's father. But, she had no control over that and decided not to dwell on it. She'd bury the thoughts, like the man had buried her heart in the dirt.

Stephanie flipped the file closed. Another developmental talent signed. She was _too _good. She grabbed the stack of signed contracts from the day, exiting her office. She sat them on her secretary's desk, scribbling a memo that the files be forwarded to Vince the next day.

On her way out, she glanced at the company calendar to see what meetings were coming up this week. _None that I need to attend. Cool! And hey, you've been growing in there for almost 16 weeks, now, _she thought towards her stomach with a small smile. Just 5 more months to go, roughly.

Arena, May 2002

Another month and still no word from Stephanie. Still, no one even mentioned Stephanie. He was going insane. Started to halfway wonder if he dreamed her existence. Quickly, he'd denounced the idea: if he was going to have an imaginary relationship he'd have the brains to make it an effortless, perfect one.

Hunter barged into Vince's office, ready to explode. He was taken by surprise to see Shane in the shiny, leather executive chair instead of his father.

"Oh, it's you" he said, not sure of how to approach this now.

Shane laughed. "Hey Hunter. Looking for my Dad?"

"Yeah, but...you'll do."

"Appreciate the confidence," Shane told him, leaning back to sip at his cup of coffee.

"Where is Stephanie?" He saw no point to be coy or beat around the bush. The McMahon family knew him well and they wouldn't fall for it.

Shane coughed and sputtered, trying his hardest not to spit out his coffee onto his father's desk. He did not see that question coming.

"Stephanie?" Shane asked, disbelievingly.

"Brunette, blue eyes that change color sometimes, 5 feet 8 inches tall. Dimples. May or may not be considered a missing person." Hunter gestured , making a circling motion with his hand. "Any of this sound familiar?"

"Very funny. I know who my sister is. What I don't know, is why you're wondering where she is."

"Well. She's still legally my wife. I haven't heard from her since..." he trailed off.

Shane nodded. "Yeah," he added, awkwardly.

"So, out with it. Tell me where she is."

Shane let out a sigh, rubbing his temples. Technically speaking, he wasn't sworn to secrecy. But, he knew Stephanie was at least somewhat enjoying her privacy. She hadn't given any instructions as to what her family was supposed to tell Hunter, if he asked where she was. Then again, she hadn't expected him to ask anyone. "Connecticut," he admitted.

"What? But she took all of her stuff. What the hell is she doing, living in our house secretly?" Hunter asked, slightly amused. Somehow, an image her living in the attic, only coming out when the house was empty popped up in his head.

"She isn't in Greenwich, she's in Stamford."

"Why?" Hunter asked, truly puzzled.

Shane held up his hand. "Wait. Before I tell you anything else, I need to know what you're planning. If you just want to show up and hurt her some more, you can kiss my ass."

Now it was Hunter's turn to sigh. He would not explode. He would keep his cool and focus, even though Shane seemed to think Stephanie was the innocent party in what happened between them. Hunter eyed Shane and noticed the other man was apprehensive. Not for himself, but for his sister, he realized. "I just want to talk to her. You know? I don't know what I'm going to say or what I want to come of this...I guess it depends on how the conversation goes," he admitted. Damn Shane. Why was he so sincere and easy to open up to? This was no fun at all. He'd wanted Vince – the old man wouldn't have given up the information so easily and it would have given Hunter an excuse to be an intimidating asshole.


	3. Thump Once If You Hate Traffic

I debated with myself on this one. But, ultimately, I decided to split up the chapter, so it's easier to focus on all the details. I hope you guys like this one! Ch 4 will be up soon, I just need to add some more content, to make it at least as long as this chapter. Feedback is greatly appreciated...the traffic to this story is kinda high but the reviews are low. I need to know if you guys want me to continue or not! Even just a two-word comment is better than nothing. Thank you TONS to my reviewers and readers :-)

May 2002: Stamford, Connecticut

Stephanie sat in her office, with her chair turned towards the window. On a clear day such as today, the view was breathtaking. Past the trams and skyscrapers, she could see the coastline. "Absolutely not," she said, her attention returning to the person on the phone. "For starters, you have no wrestling experience. You've certainly got the look we like, but nothing to back it up with." She paused and let her caller speak. "That's exactly my point. We need to develop you into a superstar before we put you on live television. Hence, the developmental contract." She fell silent again then let out a hearty laugh. "Twenty-five thousand is standard for someone with no experience. You want my off the record advice? Work your ass off there. When the trainers feel you're ready to go live, they'll let me know and I'll work out a better deal for you." She gave her pleasantries and ended the call.

Paying attention to the view again, she shook her head. Sometimes, the people in this business were preposterous. They felt entitled to a better contract even though they hadn't done anything significant yet. Normally, one of her employees would have handled such a call, but apparently this one was being too disrespectful and demanding to speak with the person in charge.

Her long arm snaked behind her, to grab the bottle of water from her desk. She took a long sip, desperately pretending it were coffee. She wanted to do everything within her power to have a good pregnancy and a healthy baby. That meant, reading the various books that were dedicated to what or what not to do. So, no coffee it was. _But I can still pretend, _she thought with a smile. Really, she just needed more sleep. Her body had new things to adjust to: a 9-to-6 schedule and a growing baby. At 10 last night, she had found herself still awake, bubbling over with energy. It was sort of surprising; she thought pregnant women were supposed to be tired all the time. Then again, for so long she was used to doing shows that lasted until 10 or 11 at night. She just hoped her body would come to a happy medium and allow her to get to sleep at a decent time since she couldn't have sleep aids to get her to bed or glorious, wonderful caffeine to keep her awake.

"Don't you want to kick me or something? You've been in there for almost 5 months," she murmured to her stomach. She let her left hand rub her now noticeably swollen belly in an attempt to coax the baby to move. Upon realizing what she was doing, she laughed out loud. "I'm like Buddha," she joked with herself.

The phone rang again, startling her. She spun her chair back to her desk and peeked, noting that her direct line was ringing. Very few people knew that number. She didn't hesitate to answer, "Stephanie McMahon-Hel...what can I do for you?" _Stupid Hunter, _she thought bitingly.

"Hey there Miss Executive," Shane greeted her brightly. He was so proud of his baby sister. He felt that in the last couple of months she matured, made better decisions and had her priorities in order. Whether or not that had to do with being away from Hunter, being away from the ring or just being pregnant, he wasn't sure. But, he was glad for the change all the same.

"Hey Shane! What's up?"

"Nothing much, just calling to check on you and my little niece or nephew."

Stephanie smiled into the phone. "We're great. I was just telling the little one that he or she needs to start being active in there."

Shane nodded, though his sister couldn't see it. "Ah, I see. Still no movement yet?"

"No, and it's making me impatient. I want the baby's opinion. Like, thump once if you agree with Mommy. Thump twice if you don't."

He laughed at her loudly. That was so cute. "Aww. We really need to find you a hobby."

"Ha. Ha," she laughed sarcastically. "Don't judge us, man."

"I'm not judging the two of you, I'm only judging you. I'm sure my niece or nephew won't come out crazy," he teased.

She waved a hand dismissively. "Oh whatever, you'd love it. We're entertaining. Anyway, how is Marissa?"

"She's great. I have to make sure to tell her I talked to you. She's been nagging me for updates."

An idea hit Stephanie. She hadn't seen her brother or his wife in over a month. Marissa would be so excited to feel how big the baby bump was now, too. Maybe they could even do a little shopping. It would take her mind off of things. "Well, how about I try to come over this weekend and surprise her?"

Shane's eyes narrowed, but he kept his voice appropriately excited. "You won't have" he struggled to find the right word "company?" He asked mysteriously.

"Huh? Like who?"

"I don't know!" he defended. "Mom or Dad...a coworker...whoever. I just thought you might be...busy." He was so awful at trying to hide things from his sister. It was so sad, being that he was older and should have this down by now. _This is Hunter's fault anyway. It's been hours since I gave him Steph's whereabouts. He should have called her by now._

"Uh huh." He was up to something, she could sense it. Really, she was always able to tell when mischief was afoot with Shane. Whether that was because he telegraphed it or she just knew him too well was unclear. It's not like she had other siblings to test her theories out with. "Well I'm not. But let's keep my visit between us for now. It depends on how I feel that day. Unpredictable sickness and all that."

"Sure thing, Steph. We hope to see you."

"Me too," she added. "Love you, Shano."

"Love you, too Steph."

_Oh jeez, _she thought, clamping a hand over her mouth. _Speak of the sickness and it shall come._ She briefly considered throwing up in her trash can. But, that was pretty gross seeing as the smell would invade her office until the cleaning crew came after hours. She grabbed her purse and ran past her secretary's desk and into the hallway towards the bathroom. When she reached the stall, she hunched over and spilled what she assumed had been her dinner last night and breakfast this morning.

She flushed the toilet and went over to the sink, splashing cold water on her face. For a few minutes she just stood there, with her hand pressed to her stomach, waiting for the nausea to pass. When she felt fine again, she fished out her travel toothbrush and toothpaste and cleaned herself up.

She straightened out her grey blouse and, satisfied, made her way back to the office.

5 hours later: Streets of Stamford, Connecticut

A string of curse words left Hunter's mouth as he willed traffic to go faster. It was already a quarter to five. He was only 5 minutes away, but the traffic was so heavy that it would probably take 20, to get through it. "Knew I should've taken public transportation," he muttered, honking his horn just for the hell of it. It was better than doing nothing. At this rate, he wouldn't make it to the corporate office by 5. He hadn't thought to ask Shane what Stephanie's exact schedule was. But, he assumed everyone was out of the office around that time.

This was stupid. He was being stupid. He should have just called her and let her know he was on his way. But he...just wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Didn't know if she'd want to see him. It's not like she made any attempt to contact him. He had no idea where her head was at concerning him, so he couldn't let her know his intentions in case she planned to hang up on him. Showing up without warning seemed like the best idea. Besides, if he failed to catch her before she left work, he had her home address anyway.

Finally, he pulled into a parking space, noting that it was 5:50. There'd been a car accident between an SUV and a minivan, in the middle of the intersection where he'd needed to make a left turn. Instead, he'd had to turn right and in his attempts to get back to where he needed to be, had ended up on a one-way street going in the wrong direction. He hated downtown anywhere. They were all the same: crowded, confusing and filled with one-way and dead end streets.

He jumped out of his car and ran to the entrance. Nobody bothered to stop and ask what he was doing, likely because they recognized him. He had to hand it to Vince; having in-ring portraits of his top superstars decorating the first floor was a really useful touch.

He reached the directory, scanning the names of the different offices. It was then that he realized he had no idea what she did here. Feeling defeated, he wandered back to the front desk he'd passed on his way to the elevator. "Stephanie McMahon's office, please," he mumbled, trying to sound polite. It was childish, but he felt bad. Catching her at the office seemed much less stalker like than showing up at her home. Hell he'd probably have to stake out her house now.

"22nd floor, back office, Mr. Helmsley" the receptionist told him.

"Thanks," he said, walking back towards the elevators. _Great_. _Just great, _he thought. _Of course Stephanie can't be on a closer floor_. _That'd just be too easy._ With a shake of his head he stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button for the 22nd floor.

After the elevators failed to speed up, under his death glares, he finally reached the 22nd floor. He sprinted past all of the cubicles until he reached a clearing that had a secretary's desk perched in front of a large office.

The secretary, Lauren, stopped packing her things to look up at the out-of-breath man before her. Her green eyes went wide. "Triple H," she exclaimed. "I mean, I'm sorry...that was so unprofessional. Are you here for Miss McMahon?"

In the most non-rude voice he could muster, Hunter said, "Mrs. McMahon-Helmsley, yes. Is she here?"

Sympathy crossed her features and she shook her head, making her red hair move across her shoulders. "You literally just missed her. She left about 5 minutes ago."

"Does she normally go straight home?"

"It depends on how hungry she is," she laughed. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

Hunter sulked, thanked Lauren and headed out.

Reaching his car again, he chewed his lip as he pondered. Traffic probably still sucked. And he had no idea if Stephanie drove, took transit or a cab. His stomach made its presence known with a growl. That was settled. He would grab something to eat, then head over to Stephanie's.


	4. Amazing

Big thanks to Paulluvssteph, dldb and Sara 1406. Your reviews are SO appreciated and get me cracking on updates sooner. I hope you and the rest of the readers enjoy this one. :)

WWE Corporate Headquarters

Stephanie furrowed her brow in concentration while she rode the elevator. Normally, there'd be at least one or two other people on with her and she'd make small talk. Likely because she ducked out ten minutes early, she was all alone. The ride from the 22nd floor to the lobby gave her a little time to think. She decided she was still very hurt by Hunter's actions. But, she realized that totally giving up on him in terms of their marriage didn't mean she should stop trying to convince him of the existence of the life they had created together.

Her imagination had taken over and she just couldn't bear the thought of looking into a little face that was a mirror-image of hers, Hunter's, or a combination of both, trying to explain why they had never met Daddy. She came to the conclusion that, "Daddy didn't believe Mommy was pregnant with you, so she stopped talking to him and moved" did not quite suffice. Not when an innocent child was going to suffer because of Hunter's dumb beliefs and her wounded feelings.

A few ideas had crossed her mind. She could call Hunter up and explain to him why he was an absolute idiot and needed to get on a plane to see her as soon as possible. That idea had problems, because he'd probably either flat out hang up on her before she could explain, or laugh, call her a liar and tell her to go screw herself after she explained. The next idea she had was to show up unannounced and simply _show him_ she was pregnant. But, in the state of mind he'd been in when she'd last seen him, that was likely to go badly, too. Hunter would probably demand a paternity test – something that she wasn't entirely comfortable with doing before the baby was born. Her next option was show up, unannounced, with the baby in tow when he or she was born. If Hunter couldn't see a resemblance between himself and their child, at least a paternity test would be something she could allow without reservation.

Now, she just needed to spend the next few months figuring out which approach was best. Then she needed to start mentally preparing herself for his initial rejection of their child. Once it had been proven that he really was a father, she had no doubt Hunter would want to be very involved. They had been very candid with each other about how much they wanted to be parents. All she hoped for at this point was that he made a better father than he did a husband.

The apprehension she felt subsided, now that she at least had ideas on what to do about her situation. When the elevator dinged, she walked off and said her goodbyes as she exited the building and entered the parking garage. Stephanie walked in the direction of her car briskly, with a small smile teasing the corners of her mouth. Complications aside, she couldn't wait to be a mommy. These days, that was the only thing she could truly get excited about. Granted, she loved her new job, house and city, also, but this was different. This would be everything. Hell, it already was, since being a good parent began with taking care of the baby while pregnant. Already, her senses were attune to any and every danger to her child whether it was physical, environmental or dietary.

So, she wasn't all that surprised when her hand instinctively moved to protect her stomach, when the lights above her began flickering. A few seconds later, a tall man jumped out in front of her from behind a support beam in the parking structure. She shrieked and her body tensed in preparation to defend herself.

"Hey whoa, calm down, Steph. It's just me!" The figure said quickly, taking a few steps back.

Stephanie unclenched and lowered her fist. She squinted in the dim lighting and asked, "Kurt?"

Above them, the lights stopped flickering and held steady. "Yeah! How are you?"

"I'm good," she smiled. "How are you? I didn't expect to see you here."

"I'm good, too," he beamed at her. "I had some merchandise ideas to pitch at headquarters today. I was just about to leave, when I thought I saw you, so I-"

"Decided to jump out and scare the living hell out of me?" She finished for him, thumping his arm with a chuckle.

Kurt's face flushed and he shrugged. "Something like that. I was just about to go grab some dinner. Want to join me? Catch up on old times?"

Worriedly, she chewed her lip. Technically, she used to enjoy Kurt's company. But his plays for her had caused major problems in her marriage. Then there was the way things had gone down during the Invasion. She wasn't sure if she should...trust him. She couldn't pin it, but her gut told her something was off.

_Stop being silly. I must still just be freaked out by those damn flickering lights and that he came out of nowhere. He's never hurt me intentionally before. Though, trying to destroy my marriage caused me personal pain. And screwing over the Alliance caused me financial pain. _She was stuck. At some point, she had to eat dinner. And she always felt a little lonely when she returned to her empty house. She was friendly with her coworkers, but excluded from their after-work bar hopping because she was pregnant. A little social interaction with someone she wasn't related to, might be just what she needed.

As if on cue, her stomach grumbled. Kurt smirked and she laughed and shook off her nerves. "Sure," she told him. "I know a great place. Just follow me there in your car."

"Where are you parked?" He asked her.

"The blue BMW at the end," she gestured and began walking.

"You shouldn't park so far, Steph. Especially not with the flickering lights. It's not safe," he frowned.

Stephanie nodded, truly touched at his concern. "Yeah, I know. I'm just not much of a morning person so I get here just in the nick of time for work. The early birds get the good spots," she laughed. She walked to the driver's side of her car and touched the handle. The locks disengaged and she opened her door and climbed in.

"I'll be following you in a red Lexus SUV. See you there." With that, he gave her one last smile and closed her door, before walking off in the direction of his own car. _I love it when I accomplish my goals. _

Streets of Stamford, Connecticut

Hunter drummed his knuckles against his steering wheel, absently. He seriously hated red lights. And stop signs. And speed bumps. He was still debating on whether or not he hated jaywalkers, too. He just wanted to get to where he was going in the quickest and most efficient way possible. It seemed like whenever he was in a rush, he was caught by every red light that there was and slowed down by signs, obstructions and people in the road. His foot slammed on the gas pedal as soon as the light turned green.

Obscenities made their way out of his mouth when the next light turned red before he reached the intersection. As he sat in his car impatiently, his thoughts drifted to Stephanie. He wondered if she was on her way home at this very moment. As distracted as he was, he initially failed to notice the dark, metallic blue BMW that pulled up beside him.

What caught his attention was the song that he could hear playing from the other car. He knew this song. It was "It's Been A While" by Staind. Stephanie had fallen in love with this song when she'd purchased their album in 2001. She listened to it whenever she could. Really, he didn't mind. At least it was rock and not the bubble gum pop she sometimes made him listen to.

When he turned his head, his breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened. He couldn't believe his luck. There was his absentee wife sitting in traffic right next to him, completely unaware of his presence. He felt as if he was looking at her for the first time. In a way he was. It had been three months since the last time he saw her. He studied her hair, the profile of her face, through her tinted windows. He was entranced by her as he watched her sing along with the song. Her fist was clenched and up in the air, with her pretty face scrunched up as he saw and heard her belt out the line "It's been awhile, but I can still remember just the way you taste."

Unable to help himself, he started laughing at her. He was so focused on her, captivated by her little rock show and the fact that she was even sitting there at all, that he failed to notice the light turn green. His hazel eyes blinked in shock when his rock star sped off through the intersection and hit a right turn at the end of the next block.

"Well, damn" he muttered. He had to try to catch up to her. He hit the gas pedal and sped off, cutting in front of the car to his right, before making the same turn that Stephanie had. He caught glimpses of her car a few blocks down, but other cars were getting in his way, obscuring his view. He saw her get in a left-turn only lane. Then it hit him: he knew exactly where she was going. There was a shopping center nearby, that had tons of restaurants. There were three that she fancied, in particular.

If he was right about this, he could pretend that he hadn't semi-stalked her at work and planned to full-out stalk her at home. He could pretend he just happened to be in the neighborhood. He weaved in and out of the lanes, to close the distance between his car and Stephanie's. Figured it would be easier all around if they arrived in the parking structure around the same time. Then he could probably talk her into having dinner with him.

A self-satisfied grin appeared on his face when he watched her turn onto the street of the promenade. He watched, irritated as a red Lexus SUV did the same thing. The damn car had been in his way most of the time, blocking his view of her car. Hunter sped up, got into the lane to the left and signaled briefly before jumping in front of the SUV. _Take that, asshole, _he thought. Yes, it was childish, but right now he didn't care. It was luck or fate that had put him and Stephanie at the same red light at the same time. So, anyone or anything that stood in the way of him getting to her was a problem he intended to bulldoze his way over.

Stephanie made a right, into the parking structure and came to a stop. Hunter watched her window roll down and her arm come out to retrieve a parking ticket. He heard her car's engine purr effortlessly when she accelerated through the lifted gate. As he reached the machine, he was prepared by having his window down and arm out already. Before his window was totally aligned with the machine, his hand reached forward to press the button. He took the ticket as he rolled by the machine and through the gate. His car didn't make a complete stop at any point...but he was pretty sure that it wasn't illegal. He sped off in the direction he saw Stephanie go.

_Bless you and your habits, Stephanie. _She was backing into a space as she usually did. When they were riding together and in a rush, he used to complain that backing in took more time. She would argue back, that it took less time to get out of the space when they were leaving. He would argue that that was beside the point, since they were in a hurry _now._ Today, however, he was grateful that her preferred parking style gave him more time to find a park of his own and get back to her. He sighed as he scanned her aisle. There were no more parks. He drove to the next aisle and parked in the first space he saw.

A genuine, pleased smile crossed his face while he exited his car. That smile turned into a half-sneer when the red SUV he had cut off, rounded the corner and parked right next to him. Hunter chose to ignore it and began walking to where Stephanie was.

"Buddy, what the hell?" A male voice called from behind him. He really paid it little attention, since he could plainly see Stephanie's car just a few yards away.

"What the hell was that?" They yelled behind him, grabbing his arm. Without thinking about it, Hunter grabbed the hand clutching his arm and twisted it as he spun around to face the courageous jerk that clearly wanted to lose the use of a limb.

"Kurt?" He asked, dumbfounded and surprised.

"Hunter?" Kurt felt the exact same way, but with a hint of irritation and frustration. "Ow," he yelled as the surprise wore off and the pain in his hand took over. He reared back with his free hand and gave Hunter a solid punch in his left side. Hunter released the hold instantly, giving Kurt a kick to the gut.

"Kurt? Want me to call security?" Stephanie's voice asked frantically, behind them. Both men halted and turned around. "Hunter?" She asked, not totally believing her eyes.

Hunter backed away and shifted his eyes repeatedly, between Kurt and Stephanie. She was clearly surprised to see him, but didn't seem at all surprised to see Kurt. "You knew he was here," he said in an accusatory tone.

"We were on our way to dinner," Kurt told him, angling his body so that Stephanie couldn't see the smug smile he added for Hunter's benefit.

Incredulously, Hunter laughed. He should have known better. So, this was why Stephanie hadn't contacted him. The vultures were already moving in on her. Of course Kurt Angle would be the first in line to take his shot at her. Throughout his marriage, Kurt was a constant thorn in his side. Obviously he knew where Stephanie worked and had followed her over. That meant they kept in reasonably close contact. In his opinion, Kurt had been very bold in his advances on his wife, when they were still living as a married couple. He wondered how much bolder the prick had become during their time apart. Three months;, that's how long Kurt Angle had probably been after her, unrestrained. He must have gotten in pretty good with her, if she kept Kurt apprised of her whereabouts but didn't so much as send a telegraph to her own husband. The very thought made his hands clench and unclench into fists rapidly. "Couldn't help yourself, could you?" He directed at Stephanie.

Her shock was replaced with confusion. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means. We're not divorced or even legally separated. We haven't discussed anything at all about what we're going to do about us and you're already with this jackass," he gestured to Kurt, indifferently. Kurt wasn't necessarily the damn problem this time. Hunter could understand that men were drawn to beautiful women. But, Stephanie was _his _wife...his wife that had lied to and then vanished on him. The least she could do was wait until they'd resolved their situation before she tried to replace him.

"What's there to discuss, Hunter?" She threw her arms up in the air. "You made it perfectly clear you don't want me."

"Because you lied to me! I was angry! I figured you'd come and talk to me about it!" He yelled, pulling at his hair. This woman infuriated him to no end. "But no, of course you didn't," he threw in sarcastically, "Instead, you go and hop in bed with the first scavenger who picks at the remains of this marriage!"

Fury and insult flashed in her eyes and her jaw tightened as she prepared to respond.

At this point, the couple didn't remember that Kurt Angle was on the same planet as them, let alone standing a mere five feet away. They both turned to him, surprised when he interjected with, "Don't talk to her that way, Hunter. I'll break your damn ankle if you do."

"Shut up, Kurt," they said in unison and turned their attention back to each other.

"You were angry?" Stephanie asked with wide eyes. "Angry is a damn understatement! I have never seen such stupid, childish behavior from a grown man in my entire life," she hissed out between her teeth.

"Childish?" He yelled. She nodded. "Children lie, Stephanie. They tell lies of all sizes and don't accept responsibility even when they've been caught. Are you sure you want to call me childish?"

"Damn you, Hunter!" _Damn you straight to hell! _She hated that stupid, confident smirk of his when it was used in an argument. She especially hated it today, because he was so completely off base. "You know what? I-" she gasped, with her hand flying to her stomach, exclaiming, "Oh!"

Hunter watched, terrified at the way she suddenly clutched her stomach. Fear turned into confusion at the smile that crossed her lips and sparkle that appeared in her eyes when she muttered, "Amazing."

Concern and curiosity forced him to reign in his previous anger. Finally, he took a good look at her. Her skin was radiant, her hair was shinier and healthier than he'd ever seen it. But he didn't get it. Not even thirty seconds ago, she had looked prepared to give him one of her trademark bitchslaps. Possibly with some extra sting on it. Now she looked like a damn kid on Christmas who'd received exactly what they'd asked for and then some. _Who the hell has that kind of reaction to a stomach cramp? _He wondered.

It was then, that he looked down. And he noticed: Stephanie was very pregnant.


	5. Regrets

SuperDooperMario: LOL that was my favorite part to write! DLDB, why yes, Kurt is very much a jackass! Sara1406 and Paulluvssteph...sorry for the suspense, ladies! Again, thank you guys for the reviews, it means a lot! And I hope that you enjoy ch. 5 and don't hate me too much for it. (smiles innocently)

Stamford Town Center, Connecticut

Stephanie continued to be in her own little world, completely forgetting about the two large men still in her presence. When she initially felt the light, quick pressure, she had instantly panicked. Was there something wrong with the baby? God knew how much Hunter was stressing her out. She would never forgive herself if something bad happened to her child because of her inability to deal with its father. As her mind quickly contemplated, she felt a second, distinct pressure. A kick. Her baby had finally kicked her. The surge of pride and happiness that she felt was indescribable.

It wasn't as if she was in denial about her pregnancy. By the time she was eight weeks along, she had a sonogram, and at the twelfth week she heard the baby's heartbeat. She'd been very in tune with the changes her body was going through, including her ever-growing, very visible baby bump. But, something was missing. Feeling her baby moving around just now, added another element of realness to her pregnancy.

Her gaze lifted from her stomach, to one of the men before her, when she heard Kurt ask, "Stephanie?" Concern dripped from his tone.

She shook her head, her smile growing wider with every second. "I'm fine. The baby kicked me for the first time," she beamed, rubbing her stomach affectionately. Finally, her eyes shifted over to Hunter. His gaze was locked on her stomach. The look in them was...somewhat bewildered but mostly angry, she decided. Of course he'd be angry. Probably thought she was deliberately trying to keep their baby all to herself. Clearly, they had a lot to discuss. Starting with the fact that he was a moron for not believing her in the first place. "Give us a minute, will you, Kurt?" She asked of him, with her eyes never leaving Hunter.

Defiantly, Kurt shook his head. He thought of all the hard work he had put in over the years, to get her away from Triple H. There was no way he was about to bow out quietly and let him worm his way back inside of her life. But he couldn't tell her that. Instead, he replied, "I'm not leaving you alone with him, he might hurt you."

Blue eyes, still sparkling from feeling her baby make its presence known, briefly touched on Kurt, then went back to her husband. "No, he won't." Hunter wasn't that callous. Okay, yes, he had deliberately pushed her once. But, he hadn't actually believed she was pregnant anyway so she'd give him a break on that. Now, it was evident that she was with child. And not just any old child, but with his very own child. He wouldn't hurt her, she was sure of it. There would just be no reason for him to. Even if he didn't love her anymore, he would love his child and wouldn't jeopardize its safety.

At Kurt's doubtful shake of the head, she elaborated matter-of-factly. "I'm pregnant, Kurt. He won't hurt me," she reassured.

Kurt's voice raised a few octaves, "Like he gives a damn! He didn't, three months ago, when he shoved you down!"

Stephanie sighed. This could get very ugly, very soon, if Kurt didn't cool his jets. Thus far, Hunter was too stunned and mad to pay their exchange any attention. His brown eyes had been glued to her swollen belly the entire time. "Let me rephrase then," her tone held some attitude, "I'm _visibly _pregnant. He. Won't Hurt. Me" she enunciated as if she were talking to a child. "Now, please give us some privacy." She paused and then lowered her voice, "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you."

Kurt stood, with his fists clenched. He looked over at Hunter – who was still staring at Stephanie's stomach. He sucked in a disgusted breath before turning on his heel and walking away from the duo. "I'll be close by," he called over his shoulder, making his way back to his car without waiting for a response from her.

Moving one foot in front of the other, slowly, Stephanie took a few steps towards her husband. "Hunter," she breathed out in nearly a whisper as she briefly touched a hand to his shoulder.

Her eyes widened when Hunter flinched away from her. Finally, he looked up from her stomach and directly into her eyes. The shock was gone from his face and had been replaced by total fury. "How could you?"

Stephanie's jaw literally dropped. She searched Hunter's eyes and realized he was absolutely serious. How could she what? Not continue to try proving to him that she was pregnant? Not come crawling after him, pleading with him to be with her? He was the one who had been a fool for not believing her, despite the proof she had provided. "Me? How could _you_?" She shot back at him.

"How could I what?" He yelled at her. "You got pregnant by that fucking jackass, tried to pass the kid off as mine and you have the nerve to be mad at me?" He shook his head in disbelief, before staring at her fiercely, to say, "You've reached a low I didn't know was possible."

It was Stephanie's turn to flinch back. Of course. The anger and confusion she had seen earlier made sense now. In that stupid head of his, he had processed the fact that she hadn't lied about her pregnancy. Then, he had decided that this baby was Kurt's. Showing up, unannounced to prove that she was pregnant, _had _been one of her options to deal with their situation. And she had known he might question the baby's paternity. But, damn it, she had not decided if she was actually going to pursue that approach. And because she hadn't decided if that was the smartest way to handle it, she was not mentally or emotionally prepared for his reaction. Whatever was left of her heart, fractured at what he had just said to her. The feeling that she'd had at the arena, three months ago returned. Her chest felt weighed down, like Hunter was crushing it under his boot.

What had she ever done to earn this lack of faith from him? She'd shown the man a picture of their baby and had him meet the doctor who examined her. Yet, he hadn't believed she was pregnant. Now that he could plainly see she was pregnant, his instincts told him it was another man's baby. He obviously didn't trust her one damn bit and she had no idea why. All she knew was that it hurt more than anything ever had before. It hurt more than what he had done at the renewal of their wedding vows. And at that time, she had thought it wasn't possible for her heart to break any further. Hunter was nothing, if not efficient...so she wondered why she was surprised that he couldn't stop at ripping her heart out of her chest and burying it in the dirt. Oh no, he had to set fire to his burial site to make sure he had destroyed it all.

Stephanie bit down on her bottom lip, steeling herself against the emotions that were threatening to spill over. "Kurt smashed your ribs in," she reminded him. "I chose you over him and never looked back, never regretted it, Hunter." She cleared her throat, to rid it of the shakiness she heard in her voice. "In just November, he caused me and Shane to lose our companies and most of our money. And you _really, truly, _think that I would sleep with him shortly afterwards, get pregnant by him and try to pass it off as yours?" She averted her gaze to the ground, sniffed and dragged a hand over her eyes to wipe at the tears she didn't manage to hold in. "I can't believe you think that little of me."

Feeling most of his anger dissipate, to be replaced by embarrassment at the conclusions he had drawn and guilt over making her cry, he decided to turn the tables. "What would you expect me to think? I haven't heard from you in three months and when I..." he trailed off and decided to omit the sad truth that he had basically stalked his own wife. "When I run into you, you're here having dinner with him."

At this, her head snapped up ."I expect you to have faith in me!" she hissed out through her tears. "I expect you to trust me!" What the hell was wrong with the man before her? For the life of her, she didn't understand him at all. There was never neutrality; he was either head over heels in love with her and treating her like a goddess or cursing her to the fiery depths of hell. And typically, she didn't deserve the latter treatment. That fact, caused her to reign in her sorrow entirely. The hurt was fading and in its place she just felt insulted...and seriously pissed off. "Expected," she amended. "I expect nothing of you anymore," she informed him with a shrug.

When he opened his mouth to speak, she held up a hand to stop him. "There are a few reasons I don't regret being with you, Hunter. Sometimes we had a lot of fun and often we had great sex," she readily admitted. "I successfully got back at my father thanks to you." At the smile she saw teasing the corners of his mouth, she shook her head and added, "But, because of you I've learned a valuable lesson: to give up while I'm ahead. Don't try saving something that can't be saved. That no one is going to help you save."

"Steph-"

"Wait, she interrupted. "It's my turn to talk here. I'm always on the damn receiving end of your rage and verbal assaults, so you'll damn well give me this! I've earned it."

Hunter swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. He felt himself splinter into a thousand pieces when her eyes narrowed and went as cold as ice chips, right before she uttered, "The last and most important reason I don't regret being married to you, is because, then I wouldn't have my baby. I just hope this child takes after me more than you." He watched, in silence as she turned her back on him and walked to her car.

"I will not break down, I will not break down," she chanted fiercely as she got in her car and prepared to exit her parking spot. She wouldn't allow herself to lose control of her emotions. Not here, in front of Hunter. He wasn't worthy of seeing that. But, damn it, she deserved to let her tears flow freely and as soon as she made it home and ate something, she would do just that. Kurt would just have to understand. And if he didn't, to hell with him. It wasn't like she owed him anything.

Stephanie stared straight ahead and avoided looking at Hunter as she drove out of her parking space. Distantly, he thought about how her habit of backing her car in served her well. She was out of his sight before he had even truly registered the fact that she was leaving.

Alone in the parking lot, he found himself unable to move. He could only think of how Stephanie was...utterly correct in everything she had just said. She was the person who had the power to hurt him the most. The only person who had the power to heal his heart or break it. In his life, he had a few close friends and even fewer romantic relationships. His relationships failed because he hadn't ever cared enough to open up and be vulnerable. Despite the fact that he opened up to Stephanie in ways he had never done before, he still held back a great deal. There were things she didn't know. Things he had never told her or anyone else. Things that might help her understand him better. But he didn't tell her because he was too ashamed and she never pressed him for explanations. That was one of the main reasons he loved her so much: she just accepted his coldness, his anger and the other negative aspects of his personality without forcing him to reveal the reasons why he was that way.

Now, he realized that was exactly how they got here. This is how he broke their relationship and the only woman he had ever loved. He had taken advantage of her gracious, unquestioning acceptance, by continuing to let himself alienate her. Because he knew – or at least thought – she would never go anywhere. And God knew he never wanted to hurt her. Yet, somehow he seemed to do that easily. It came naturally, instinctively. When it came to sharing his feelings, he only forced himself to do so when he was at great risk of losing her. When he had walked out on her three months ago, it had not counted to him. She lied, so she wasn't going anywhere. She was supposed to come to him, with the role of the bad guy for a change.

Except that, she wasn't the bad guy. Unlike other situations where she was at least minimally to blame, this one really was totally on him. So, here he was, feeling like total shit. Something drastic needed to be done, to fix this mess. When he snapped out of his thoughts, he realized she was surely long gone and he had no idea where she was heading. Quickly, he decided that it was back to Plan B: stake out her house. He just hoped it wasn't too late. Stephanie had never looked at him so beaten, so angry or so cold before. The fact that she managed to feel all three of those emotions to an extreme, within the last ten minutes probably wasn't a good sign for his chances of making things right with her.


	6. The Little Things

Nocturnal Rose, thank you and welcome to my wonderful world of Boomerang. LOL. Triplehhholic hahaha at 2+2=100. And a little bit of the concerns you raised are addressed in this chapter. dldb, thanks for the support, as always and I hope you and the rest of the readers enjoyed this one. It's somewhat longer than previous chapters...it kind of had to be if I'm going to handle the mess I've caused for the characters, within the next 4 chapters. hehe. The song is "Fallin" by the oh so talented Alicia Keys. There might be some typos...I was rushing because I have an essay, due tomorrow that I haven't started on...and wrote this chapter, while taking a break after finishing up a different essay. Oh, procrastination!

Stamford Town Center, Connecticut

Kurt Angle sat in his car gripping the steering wheel in astounded fury. Just what kind of rotten luck did he have? On the very day he decided to make his play for Stephanie, Hunter comes to town. It was ridiculous. Three whole months had gone by since Stephanie stopped attending the events. Why hadn't Hunter or himself come just a day sooner or later than what they had? Then, he wouldn't be nursing an aching hand, wrist and gut.

"This sucks," he mumbled.

Well, it mostly sucked, anyway. Barring the fact that she was alone with Hunter, he was glad that their reunion, of sorts, had gotten off to an awful start.

He had to admit, he had been surprised, horrified and frustrated when Stephanie disappeared from the business. He had anticipated that maybe she would just take a few days to lick her wounds and compose her strategy for revenge against her estranged husband. The day following the failed wedding vow renewals, Vince McMahon had called an emergency production meeting that everyone except Hunter was expected to attend. Vince had issued a gag-order of sorts. No one was to mention his daughter, the status of her life or even what had occurred the previous night.

Vince was irate that Hunter had humiliated his daughter and then gone on to assault them both. But, knowing that Stephanie wouldn't be pleased if he had sent the entire locker room after Hunter, he had kept his retaliation to strictly head games.

The Chairman knew that it would drive Hunter absolutely insane that everyone was pretending that their wedding renewals had not happened. It would drive him even crazier that it appeared that no one noticed Stephanie's total absence. The icing on Vince's revenge cake was to make Hunter untouchable. If anyone insulted him, hit him when not involved in a match or used any weapon of any kind on him, they would be fired on the spot.

Kurt had to hand it to Vince: his plan had been pretty damn effective. Week after week he would watch Hunter use unnecessary brutality against his opponents. After cringing at the man's viciousness, he would get a little smirk when he watched Hunter storm up the ramp, frustrated that his adversary was hardly defending himself. He was like a little kid on a time out, just bouncing off of the walls.

But, by the time a full month had passed, Kurt became anxious. It really looked like Stephanie was never coming back. And that just wouldn't do. She wasn't supposed to be with Hunter and he had finally succeeded in driving them apart for good. But, what the hell was the point if he couldn't have her for himself? He had to track her down. Hiring a private investigator seemed too desperate. And he knew there was no way in hell her family would willingly turn over the information he needed. Not without questioning him about it. Quite frankly, he couldn't think of a single excuse that sounded plausible.

It had taken a lot of sweet talking, flirting and money, but he finally got Vince's secretary to do him another favor by accessing a copy of the WWE payroll for him. He had frowned at how much more money Hunter Hearst Helmsley made than him but he kept scanning until he reached her name. The sheet informed him that the Billion Dollar Princess was working at Corporate, in the Contracts department. From there it was a simple matter to get the general idea of her schedule and begin to make his plans for bumping into her.

Kurt was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of screeching tires. He looked up, just in time to see Stephanie's car exit the parking garage. While he was frustrated that he had missed his chance with her, he was glad Hunter and Stephanie's conversation had clearly taken a turn for the worse. Hunter just stood frozen to his spot, looking in the direction that his wife's car had gone.

Heexited his car and walked towards the promenade entrance, hoping Hunter was too transfixed to notice him. Their brief fight really had hurt.

Streets of Stamford, Connecticut

As Stephanie drove through the downtown traffic, weaving in and out of lanes expertly, she tried to focus on the music that her compact disc player spat out randomly. If she allowed herself to think about what just happened with Hunter, she was sure she would lose it and start bawling. She knew that she had to deal with it sometime, but it seemed better all-around, if she could hold it in until she was in the absolute privacy of her own home.

I keep on fallin'  
In and out of love  
With you

Stephanie closed her eyes briefly. She knew this song. Given her mood, she really should change it to something else but she couldn't. Maybe she was a masochist for listening to a damn song about a back and forth relationship while she was trying to block out thoughts of her husband.

Sometimes I love ya  
Sometimes you make me blue  
Sometimes I feel good  
At times I feel used  
Lovin' you darlin'  
Makes me so confused

I keep on fallin'  
In and out of love with you  
I never loved someone  
The way that I love you

Oh, oh, I never felt this way  
How do you give me so much pleasure?  
And cause me so much pain  
Just when I think  
I've taken more than would a fool  
I start fallin' back in love with you

I keep on fallin'  
In and out of love with you  
I never loved someone  
The way that I love you

Oh baby  
I, I, I, I'm fallin'  
I, I, I, I'm fallin'  
Fall

I keep on fallin'  
In and out of love with you  
I never loved someone  
The way that I love you

I'm fallin'  
In and out of love with you  
I never loved someone  
The way that I love you

I'm fallin'  
In and out of love with you  
I never loved someone  
The way that I love you  
What?

Mentally, she congratulated herself on not breaking down into a weeping mess. Then again, the song was about falling in and out of love. With Hunter, she had never truly fallen out of love with him, despite how much he hurt her at times.

On the seat next to her, her phone began to light up and spin. She forgot to switch it off of silent when she left the office. She grabbed it and held it to her ear, without checking the caller ID.

"This is Stephanie," was her unenthused greeting.

"Hey Steph!"

"Kurt?" She asked, with a puzzled frown marking her features.

"Yeah! Where did you run off to?"

The strange feeling she'd had in her gut when he had asked her to dinner, returned. Something wasn't right. Shortly after the failure with the Alliance, she and Shane had both changed their phone numbers. Most of their old roster, had called them several times a day; some to whine and cry about joblessness, others to scheme and plot how they could somehow still take over her father's business. Both siblings had accepted defeat and didn't want to hear it so they had cut off contact. Only those close to her, had her new phone number. And since she worked in the corporate office now, there was no need for business contacts to have her personal line.

Her mind worked quickly, turning over the scant evidence, trying to make sense of it. None of her family members would have given Kurt the number without her permission, or at the very least giving her a heads up. Yet, none of them had so much as mentioned Kurt's name to her..

Kurt had popped up from behind a support beam to greet her – or scare her, from her perspective. He had said he'd just pitched merchandise ideas and was leaving, when he thought he saw her. But, his car had been nowhere nears hers, though. Kurt had walked her to her car, then gone in a totally different direction. And if he had randomly seen her, why hadn't she seen him, since the support beam had been in her upcoming path?

"You there?" He asked, breaking her out of her reverie.

"Sorry, yeah. I wasn't feeling well, so I left. I'm sorry I wasn't able to give you a heads up...I uh, didn't know your number, to call and tell you." _And you shouldn't know mine, either, fucker._

"That's okay! Raincheck?" He asked brightly.

Quickly, Stephanie grabbed a candy wrapper she had been meaning to dispose of. She rubbed and crumpled it against the receiver, trying not to laugh as she heard Kurt calling her name over and over.

"What? I can't hear you!" She shouted for added effect, before clicking off. She adjusted her phone's settings to reject calls from numbers that weren't in her contacts list.

Scrolling back to her address book, she selected her brother's name.

"Hey baby sis," he answered.

"Hey Shane. Forgive me for skipping the small, pleasant talk, but I need to know something."

In his seat, he sat up straight, devoting his entire attention to the call. Maybe Hunter had shown up, ratted him out then pissed Stephanie off. He wondered if he was in trouble with his sister. "What's up?"

"Did you, Dad or Mom give Kurt my new number?"

Abruptly, Shane laughed. "Sure! We all did, it was a group effort," he said sarcastically. "Because Kurt and I are on _such _good terms. And Mom deals with the talent regularly. And Dad respects suck ups. And we all totally disregard the fact that you're married to and pregnant by another man."

Stephanie returned the laugh, but the sick feeling stayed in her gut. "Okay, then you need to find out how the hell he got my number. And whether or not he was at Corporate today, pitching some merchandise ideas."

"He called you? You saw him? He said that?"

"Whoa, one question at a time. But, yes to all three, though not in that order."

Shane sighed. "Start at the beginning, don't leave anything out."

Stephanie explained everything. She told him about how Kurt had popped up in the parking lot and invited her to dinner. She went into great detail about how he and Hunter had got into a fistfight, right before she and Hunter got into a verbal one. Though he was proud of his sister for standing up for herself, he couldn't help but clench his teeth as she recalled her feelings on what Hunter had accused her of.

But, what the hell was up with Kurt? The situation sounded fishy, at the very least. It looked like he would need to do some digging of his own. Shane's first priority was to make sure that his only sister and his unborn niece or nephew were going to be safe. Judging by the way things went down with Hunter, he was fairly certain the guy wouldn't be around to protect them. So until he figured out what was going on and determined whether or not Kurt Angle was a threat to Stephanie and the baby's safety, he had insisted that his sister pack some bags and come stay with him and Marissa in New York City.

Stephanie had fought him on his decision, grumbling about being a strong, independent woman who could handle herself and even fight, if necessary. That was her McMahon temper speaking. Once he pointed out that she was pregnant and living alone in a big city, she had lowered her voice considerably. That was her impending motherhood speaking.

"You really think he would hurt me?" She asked quietly.

He decided to be honest. All the years of McMahon squabbles had taught him that things tended to turn out worse when you lied. Not that he could ever successfully lie to his sister anyway. "I don't know. And that's the problem. It's obvious, to me, he's found a way to track you down and that's pretty fucking scary. So you'll stay here, closer to family."

"Dad and Mom are closer," she interjected.

Shane sighed. Damn her stubborn personality. "Dad's traveling, on screen and in meetings all over the damn country. He has to be. My schedule is a bit more flexible because I don't have my hands in everything, these days. And when I'm not home, Riss will probably be around. You'll go to work like usual, in Stamford and just come back here in the evenings and be here, doing girl-crap with Rissa on the weekends."

"It's not crap!' She scolded, with her face flickering with her amusement.

"Shopping and chick flicks?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry but that's girl crap."

Contemplatively, Stephanie bit her bottom lip softly as she pulled onto her street. She liked girl crap. And, doing girl crap by herself was fine, but doing it with her sister-in-law would definitely be more fun. Maybe if she accepted the offer to stay with Shane, the sick feeling she got when she thought about Kurt, would go away. "I'll think about it," she offered.

_That's better than a no, I'm getting somewhere here. _"Please do. I love you, little sis and I only want what's best for you."

"I appreciate that, Shane. I love you, too," she added before ending the call.

Pulling into her driveway, she wondered if Shane was willing to go to the extreme to do what was best for her. Maybe he could tie Hunter up and force him into counseling. She didn't care if it was marriage counseling or anger management, she'd take either one. She put down the cell phone, to drag her purse into her lap, before reaching behind the passenger seat for her laptop bag.

Having her family intact was what was best for her. The man she loved had little confidence in her loyalty to him. Apparently, he thought she was totally incapable of it. She wondered how and why he had ever claimed to love her. Their relationship was like a parody of what a healthy one should look like. The fact that a lot of the drama in their marriage had literally been broadcast for the world to see was a bitter irony.

She trudged up the steps to her home, balancing her bags skillfully while she unlocked the front door. Both bags landed on the soft carpet with a thud, when she released them, while kicking off her shoes. As she entered the spacious kitchen, she sighed. She didn't exactly feel up to cooking for one. _Okay, one and a half, _she amended, feeling the soft, fluttering kick inside her stomach. Curiously, her eyes scanned the refrigerator, finding nothing of interest there. She pulled open the freezer and licked her lips as soon as her gaze landed on the box of frozen pizza and she yanked it from its spot.

Barefoot, she padded over to the oven and cranked it higher than the package recommended. She figured that it would make up for putting the pizza in, before the appliance had preheated. She tossed the pepperoni pizza on a baking tray, stuck it in the oven and set the timer for twenty minutes.

Satisfied, she wandered into her master bathroom to take a quick shower.

Forty minutes later, she sat on the couch, licking her sauce-covered fingers with loud smacks. Her idea had been spot-on and her pizza had come out perfectly. "And people say I can't cook," she chuckled while she got up and walked back to the kitchen. "Well, really I guess I baked. Or at least heated it up. Whatever, the point is it tasted great." In silence, she began to wash her dishes. Shane was right, she needed a hobby. Talking to herself on a regular basis might be a sure sign that she was slowly losing it. Considering, she pressed her lips together.

_It always comes back to Hunter, in the end, _she thought. Perhaps if he was here to laugh at her jokes and make some of his own, she wouldn't have to pick up the slack. Maybe she wouldn't be talking to herself as much, if her husband was around to talk to her. But no, anytime he got around her now, he just had to yell, hurl accusations and behave like a total jerk.

If he was here, with her like he should be, maybe she wouldn't have to uproot herself for the second time in 3 months, to go live with her brother. Hunter could take care of Angle with no problem whatsoever. Hell, just today they had gotten into a fight and Hunter had never liked Kurt anyway. He would have been more than happy to have another excuse to smash the man's face in.

He should just...be here, to give her everything she needed and at least a few things that she wanted. But, he wasn't. He was off, probably thinking up other insults and allegations to justify his conduct towards her.

She knew this had been coming, but had been trying hard to beat it back as long as possible. Her long arm reached out for a paper towel and she gingerly held it just below her eyes, to catch the tears that fell while she walked back to her bedroom. She threw the paper towel into the trash can and went into the bathroom, opening the cabinet below the sink. After debating for a moment, she took an entire roll back to her room. With the way she felt, she just might use the whole thing.

For white noise, she flicked the television on and turned it to the channel listing before lying down on her side. A few minutes passed and her watery eyes continued to look at the screen, not exactly paying attention to what was being displayed. Distantly, she knew it was an advertisement for cell phones. Then it hit her: hers was in the car.

"Oh, come on!" She groaned in frustration, slapping her hand against her pillow as she sat up. Her day had been long enough as it was. All she wanted to do now was lay around in her tank top and sweatpants, crying until she finally fell asleep. But, since she hadn't felt the need to obtain a landline, her cell phone was the only way she could be reached outside of work. With Shane worrying his head off about her, she had to stay available or he'd be likely to drive down to check on her in the middle of the night to give himself some peace.

Tiredly, she made her way to the front door and pulled it open, while she slipped her feet into some walking shoes. She noted that it was already pretty dark outside, as she made her way down the porch steps and to the passenger's side of her car.

In the distance, she heard a car door slam, but she paid very little attention to it. All in all, she just felt frustrated and numb. So numb, apparently, that her fingers wouldn't work properly. Her phone slipped from her grasp and thudded into the grass as soon as she had pulled it from the seat. Gutturally, she groaned again and averted her eyes to the sky in defeat.

As she maneuvered herself into a position that wouldn't bother her stomach while she tried to get the phone, she failed to notice the figure's rapidly approaching footsteps.

It wasn't until the person gently pushed her away that she registered the fact that she wasn't alone. Panic-stricken, she thrashed out wildly. "Get away, don't touch me!" She shrieked

The figure flinched and backed away when one of her blows connected with the top of his head. "Okay, okay. Jesus, Steph."

At his voice, she went silent.

He took this as his opportunity to speak. "I saw you going for the phone. I thought I'd help you out, since you're pregnant," he admitted sheepishly as he handed her the small device.

Stephanie took it from him and stuck it in the pocket of her sweatpants. She braced her hands against her car door and leaned forward, refusing to look up. "How long have you been out here?" She asked quietly.

"Not long."

"How did you find me?"

"Asked around." He tried a smile, even though she still wouldn't look at him.

Above them, the porch lights flickered on. Dimly, Stephanie realized it must be 7 o'clock, since the lights were set to turn on when they detected motion, beginning at that time.

Slowly, he moved behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, wincing when he felt her tense up even more under his touch. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Long, hard, stressful day," she told him truthfully. "You're the last person I expected to see here."

"I know...things didn't go so good today."

Stephanie laughed resentfully.

"Will you look at me?" He requested.

At this, she spun around. "Why Hunter? You want to see your fucking handiwork? Is that it?" She asked, gesturing to her red, teary eyes. When he reached a hand out to her face, she moved to the side and away from him. " Don't touch me," she repeated.

Hunter sighed. "Stephanie, please. I'm sorry I scared you. Let's just calm down for a minute. Okay?"

"That's not what this is about!" She hissed out. "I don't want you to touch me because it's going to confuse me. You don't love, trust or want me and if you touch me I'm going to forget about that until you remind me of it again." She held out a hand as she retreated towards her house, her emotional safe haven. "So just...just stay away from me. I can't take any more of this."

"Don't tell me how I feel," he chastised, making sure his tone wasn't too harsh.

Indifferently, she shrugged from the top of her steps. "You've been telling me for months now, with your words and actions."

"I'm-"

"Don't tell me you're sorry. You just...don't like me very much," she threw an arm out to the side to emphasize the absolute simplicity of her point. "I'll get over it eventually. But I need you to stay away."

"But...our baby," he said, half of it being a question and the other half being a statement of fact.

"I won't keep my child from its father," she said intensely. "I have 4 months to go." She paused and struggled with her next words. "I should be...I hope that...I'll be okay to be around you by then." She averted her eyes to the ground momentarily, while she sniffled. "But right now, it just hurts too much."

For the second time that day, he was frozen to his spot. He watched on, helplessly as she rushed inside of her house and closed the door. When the lights in the living room went out, his body seemed to rejoin his mind again. Shaking his head in disappointment, he walked back to his car. He reached into the backseat and grabbed the mixed bouquet of pink, white and yellow roses along with a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups. Despite being Vince's spoiled, only daughter, she was blissfully simple when it came to other aspects of life. He knew that multiple pieces of her favorite candy would touch her heart more effectively than a box of fancy chocolates. He also knew that she considered softer flower colors to be more welcoming and sincere.

With a heavy sigh, he made his way back to her porch. He rang the doorbell and when she didn't answer, he decided to give up for tonight. He sat the items down and they made a slight crunching noise. Slowly, he walked back to his car and waited for a couple of minutes. The door never opened and the motion lights switched off, leaving her house bathed in a soft, evening glow.

Inside the house, Stephanie closed her eyes tightly, lightly thumping her head back against her front door. When she heard the engine of his car start, she risked a glance outside of the window. He had just pulled away from the curb. Her curiosity overtaking her, she opened the door and looked down. With a heavy heart, she carefully bent down to retrieve the things he had left for her. Wistfully, she watched his car fade into the distance, until it was lost in the dimness of the street lights. It was nice to know that he had paid attention to at least some of the things she'd said over the years.


	7. What Do You Want From Me?

Big thanks to dldb. I hadn't realized so much time had passed since I'd updated Boomerang, lol. So, I cranked this out for you all real quick. Hope you guys like it, let me know! This one will be coming to an end shortly...I've got 2 more actual chapters and an epilogue planned. But, that could always change, you never know until you write it! :-)

Greenwich, Connecticut

Hunter sat on the couch in the living room at his house. It was killing him to know that Stephanie was so close, yet so far. It had been 3 days since he showed up at her house unannounced. He didn't want to scare her by showing up again. But, that wasn't the word he was looking for. It was more like he didn't want to force her to be around him. So he'd called her from a blocked number a few times the next day. He was worried that she wouldn't answer if she knew it was him. Then again, she didn't answer even when she didn't know it was him. He'd been too chicken to leave a voicemail. She would probably just delete it without listening to it fully.

He had tried to speak his piece and lay his cards on the table the night that he saw her and she had...well, run back into her house as if her life depended on it. Maybe it did. Maybe _he _had done so much damage that she just couldn't handle him being around. And if that was the case, he needed to stay away for her sake and for the baby's. That's what he kept telling himself every time he looked at his cell phone to find he had no new messages or missed calls from her, before glancing thoughtfully at his car keys.

Goddamn it, waiting was going to drive him crazy. He was torn. He wanted to know what she was thinking. He needed to know if his gesture had had any effect on her at all. Would she call him if it had? Maybe she was waiting for him to do something else. But what? Try to plead his case again? Maybe he should call without the blocked number. But, the potential for rejection stopped him. And honestly, this was a conversation they needed to have face to face. She needed to see how sorry he was.

He groaned in frustration and lowered his head to his knees. He put both of his hands in his hair and tugged, interlocking his fingers at the back of his head. He needed a plan. But, it wasn't like there was a tutorial for how to get your wife to forgive you after you accuse her of lying about a pregnancy, then accuse her of being pregnant by another man. Nor was there a sorry card that would cover these things. Hallmark needed to step up their greeting card game for shit like this.

Advice. That's what he needed. Clearly, the lone wolf approach was getting him nowhere. He wouldn't call Kevin...that would be like the blind leading the blind. He lifted his head and his big hand felt around the leather couch until it landed on his cell phone. He sighed and scrolled through his phone, seeking the familiar name.

"Awesome timing," Shawn answered.

"I need help, Shawn," Hunter admitted.

"I wish I had a tape recorder right now. This moment would have made history. But, alas, I'm unprepared."

A wounded expression crossed Hunter's face. "Come on, man. I feel bad enough as it is. I don't know what to do about Stephanie."

"Of course you don't. Which is why you should open the door now. I've got something for you."

Hunter narrowed his eyes and wondered what his friend was playing at. Here he was, humbling himself and requesting help and Shawn was turning it into a great, big joke. His life and the decay of his relationship wasn't a damn laughing matter, in his opinion. But, that didn't stop him from being curious. He got up and swung open the front door, not at all surprised to see Shawn standing there.

Hunter gestured from Shawn's head to his feet. "How is _this _something supposed to help me?"

Shawn shook his head playfully and handed Hunter a video tape. "Watch this."

"What is it?" He asked, taking the tape from him.

"It's a tape of your marriage. More specifically, the arguments, the bad times."

Hunter waved the tape in the air. "How the hell is that going to help me?"

"Because, man!" Shawn sighed. His friend seriously didn't _get _relationships. "You're too focused on the present. Fixing this latest and of course, biggest mess. If this was the first time you mistreated her," he shrugged, "maybe she'd take you back easier. But it isn't. There are times when you've been so mean to her for no good reason, that I'm surprised she doesn't shove your water bottle up your ass."

"Have I really been that bad?" He asked quietly.

Shawn shrugged. "Watch the tape, then ask yourself that. I think you'll find you've got lots of apologizing to do."

They shook hands and slapped each other on the back. Hunter nodded his head in farewell and gratitude for what Shawn had given him.

For the next few hours, he saw himself as the world has seen him. As Stephanie had seen him. He saw himself blow his lid dozens of times. Even when he wasn't mad at Stephanie, he took his frustration out on her just because she happened to be there. She was always there. She always wanted to be around him, even when he didn't appreciate or value her company. If he was honest with himself, he was appalled at all the times he had yelled at her. A sick feeling crept into his stomach at all the times he saw her flinch back in fear.

He winced as he watched himself apologize for keeping his hug with Chyna a secret. He knew what was coming next. He shook his head as he watched himself lose his cool and start destroying their dressing room. Stephanie retreated to a corner, screaming at him to stop.

Hunter felt physically ill at what he was watching himself do. At any time, a shard of broken glass could have hit his wife and injured her. Or worse. The fact that none of his temper tantrums had physically harmed her was a miracle. While he had been pissed off when it happened, the cops were right to take him away that night. He was totally out of control.

He watched how he ignored her after his return from injury. Cringed, while he snapped at her on screen. Every single time he was mean to her, her face fell and she looked like she was about to cry. He'd been extremely irritated with her for blabbing on about how she nursed him back to health and was a big part of his success. But, he knew that she'd done it, not to convince the world of her value. It was to convince him. And he couldn't blame her, not when his actions and words during his rehab said that he didn't want her anymore.

Really, he'd had enough. Watching her back away from him and hold her stomach apprehensively after she revealed her pregnancy hurt his heart. She was worried that he'd hurt them. And he'd done exactly that, a week later. He wasn't going to force himself to watch their attempt at renewing their wedding vows. He remembered everything. He had etched the night into his memory, even before he found out she hadn't lied about being pregnant.

And Shawn was right. He had a lot of apologizing to do. There was only one place to do it. He picked up his phone and dialed.

"What?" The other man answered rudely.

Hunter ignored the tone. He had to do this. "I know I'm the last person you want to speak to. But, I've realized just how much of an asshole I've been to Stephanie. I don't want to upset her by just showing up again."

"What's that got to do with me? I'm not going to convince her to take you back."

"Get her to watch Raw this week. Please. She'll listen to you."

The man ran a hand over his face wearily. "Why should I?"

"I've taken her for granted. I've taken my anger out on her...I've distrusted her. Most of what I have done, especially these last few months, tells her that I don't love her. But, I do. There's not a single thing in this world that I love more. And she needs to know that. Even if she doesn't want to be with me anymore. Please, Shane. Just get her to watch the show. I'm begging you."

Shane sighed. The last time he had granted Hunter's request, the man had shown up and upset his sister again. But what Hunter had just said seemed so sincere. And Stephanie put on a brave face and buried her emotions well, but he knew that she was hurting that her family wasn't intact. That Hunter wasn't around for her pregnancy. There was also Kurt Angle to consider. He hadn't yet had time to seriously investigate what was up there. And Stephanie had agreed to stay with him and Marissa in New York beginning tonight. He could easily get her to watch Raw since it was his house. If Stephanie and Hunter got back together...or at least got on good terms again, he could relax a little.

Reluctantly, he answered. "Fine."

"Thanks, Shane."

"Don't thank me. Just make this right," was his reply before he clicked off.

Stamford, Connecticut

Stephanie pressed her lips together as she considered. This wasn't necessarily the best picture of herself and Hunter, but it was her favorite. Shortly after they had gotten married, they had celebrated Christmas together. Hunter had no family that he knew of and Stephanie had cut hers off. Degeneration X had split off to their respective hometowns to spend the holidays with their relatives. So, she and Hunter had booked a cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. On the last night of the cruise, was the Captain's Dinner. Basically, they just had to wear fancy attire and eat gourmet food. The photographer booked for the event approached their table. She had smiled, directly into the camera. But, Hunter had turned his head at the last moment to kiss her on the cheek.

He was grinning like a damn Cheshire cat in the photo. She was still smiling, but a bright red blush stained her cheeks. It was a perfect representation of their marriage at the time. They were giddy and in love. They were also inseparable, which was proven by the fact that their hands were intertwined and resting on the table.

She sighed. While she wanted to go back to that time, she knew that she couldn't truly wish for it. She wasn't pregnant back then. And she wouldn't give her child back for anyone or anything, not even the love of its father. So she'd just have to make do with her memories. She took the picture out of its frame and tucked it into a separate compartment so it wouldn't get ruined.

Why had he stopped loving her like that? What had she done that was so terrible? They hadn't lost their passion for one another. Her swollen abdomen was living proof of that. Despite the fact that they'd drifted apart, they remained committed. No one had cheated or even come close. That left one option: intimacy. He stopped being open with her, started pushing her away. She got mad and just let him, deciding to do her own thing. But, she had hoped their funk would only be temporary and would resolve itself when he returned to the ring. Yet, somehow it had gotten even worse and she was at her wits end on how to fix it. She didn't know how to reach him anymore. Nothing she said touched his heart positively. Everything she said or did got her stonewalled or yelled at. Until she told him she was pregnant.

She shook her head. Thinking about it now wasn't going to help her. She still had more things to pack. _Get to safety first, think about this mess, later. _Blouses, slacks, jeans, pajamas, tees and shoes went into her bag at a rapid pace. The longer she stayed here, the more uneasy she felt. She'd ignored calls from a blocked number all weekend. It had to be Kurt, but he wasn't leaving any messages. And she was too scared to answer the back-to-back calls. She had no idea what he was up to or what he was capable of, but the fact that he was clearly tracking her was more than bothersome. It was downright terrifying, especially since she was living all alone. She didn't know how long it had taken him to get the information that he already had. She didn't want to know how long it would take him to find out her address. That's if he didn't already have it. She shuddered at the thought that he could be watching her right now.

The fact that when she was exhausted, she apparently paid no attention to her surroundings didn't help her fears. When Hunter had shown up, she had no clue she wasn't alone until he had touched her. Despite the fact that his presence upset her, she was glad it had been him and not Kurt. Hell, she hoped Kurt saw that, so that he'd know to stay the hell away from her because Hunter could show up at any time.

The ringing of her cell phone brought her out of her thoughts. Hesitantly, she picked up the small device that had become that bane of her existence this weekend. She looked at the caller ID and scowled when the readout told her it was a private number. She was getting the hell out of here. Now. If she forgot to pack anything, she'd just buy it in New York. She stuffed the phone into the back pocket of her jeans, ignoring the beep that informed her that she had a missed call. She didn't give one ounce of a damn.

Stephanie secured the latches on the windows in each room making sure her house was as secure as possible. She rolled her suitcase out of the house and down the stairs, with her purse and tote bag on either shoulder. The adrenaline coursing through her veins caused her to haul the bags into her trunk effortlessly. She slammed the trunk shut and pulled open her car door, quickly escaping inside. She started up the engine and let the top down, desperate for some fresh air. The feeling that she was being watched was stifling her and she worried that she'd have a panic attack. She took deep, calming breaths and pulled her phone out, texting Shane that she was on her way.

He confirmed the receipt of her message, telling her to drive safe. As she put the car in gear using her right hand, her left hand still held the phone. It vibrated and without thinking she flipped it open without checking the caller ID, assuming that it was her brother.

"Steph?" Kurt exclaimed on the other line with relief, but his voice was muffled as if he had a bad signal.

Her eyes widened and she pressed the button that would end the call. Against the steering wheel, her fingers trembled and she struggled to keep the tears from falling. It had been stupid and careless to answer the phone without checking to see who it was. Again, the phone began to vibrate and she forced herself to look down. Private number.

"The hell with this," she muttered and backed out of her driveway as fast as she could.

The car shook a little when she ran over her own lawn, but she didn't care. Maybe the grass would grow back before she returned. She put the car in drive and sped off down the street. When the phone continued to vibrate beside her thigh, she decided to turn the damn thing off. Anyone who needed to contact her out of the office – that was welcomed to contact her - knew she would be at Shane's. She wasn't sure where Hunter fell, of those two categories. From what she could tell, he hadn't tried to contact her since he showed up at her house. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. If he was waiting on her to make the next move, he was going to be sorely disappointed. Why would she seek out more emotional punishment? If he did decide to contact her, she wasn't sure what she would do. When he was around, her rationality and sense of self-preservation tended to go out of the window until he said or did something awful to her. So, she'd probably be the typical moth drawn to the damn flame and talk to him.

And Kurt didn't need to contact her, nor was he welcomed to. He was freaking her the hell out.

What did the little creep want from her anyway? What was so damn important that he couldn't just leave it on her voicemail? She refused to speak to him directly. If he meant to cause her harm, she couldn't let him know that she was on to him. That might cause him to be more careful. When she hung up on him, it sounded like one or both of them had a shitty signal. He might not realize she hung up on purpose. Especially, not since he'd called right back and was unable to reach her. She briefly considered filing a restraining order. But there were problems with that. It would alert him that she definitely knew something was up. And it might very well piss him off enough to come after her, if he hadn't planned to already. If that happened, what the hell was she going to do? Throw the piece of paper at him?

No. No, she'd do her best to avoid him until her brother could figure out what the hell was going on.


	8. Favors

This one is pretty dialogue-heavy...and long, compared to other chapters, I think. This fic is coming to an end very shortly, and I hope you've all enjoyed it...and enjoy this chapter. As always, reviews are appreciated and encouraged! Off I go to start an essay that due tomorrow. LOL.

* * *

Stamford, Connecticut

Shane pulled into a spot in the employee parking garage. He sighed and locked his car before making his way over to the large building. Stephanie was at the Corporate office as usual, but conveniently so was Vince. Neither one of them knew he was here today.

He greeted the few employees that were wandering about, while he made his way to the elevators. He called for the elevator to go up and waited patiently for it to arrive. He stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button to go to the 15th floor. Alone in the elevator, he hummed a random tune to take his mind off of the task at hand.

He wasn't going to bother with subtlety. Technically speaking, he was a boss and an heir, since Vince had given him a job and written him back into the will. His lips twitched with his smile at that. Whenever there was a disagreement, Vince almost took it out on the will. Not that he blamed him...when you were at the helm of an empire, you could and probably should do that to keep everyone in line.

The elevator dinged and he walked off and went straight to the Merchandising department.

Inside, he laughed a little when the employees quieted, scurried and shuffled in their seats in their attempts to look busy for him. He held up his hands in peace. "You can play while you work, people. I just need to someone to give me a copy of the conference logs for this department for the last seven days."

An eager young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties piped up moments later. "Got it right here, Mr. McMahon!"

The kid was quick. Shane had no doubt he'd get far for that and his efficiency. "You can call me, Shane. And thanks for this," he held up the papers and retreated to an empty desk in the corner of the large, open office.

His brown eyes flipped through the papers quickly. He knew exactly what he was looking for: one name and one date. He scanned the most relevant page several times, in an attempt to make the information he wanted to see, appear. But, it didn't. In the leather office chair he leaned back and considered.

This didn't prove anything. Maybe Kurt Angle had dropped in to pitch ideas randomly and wasn't on the logs.

His gaze tracked to the fresh-faced kid again. Shane motioned to get his attention and said. "Kurt Angle isn't on here."

The young man's brow creased with confusion. "He wouldn't be; he hasn't been in recently."

_Okay, _Shane thought, _scratch that idea. _He gathered the papers from the desk, thanked the employees for their time and headed out. He wandered back to the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. It was time to let his father know what was going on. That Angle was up to something where it concerned Stephanie.

The elevator dinged and Shane took a deep breath before stepping off. He really, really wished that this wasn't happening. It was bad enough Angle had managed to find out his sister's number. But, now there was proof that he'd been lying about his reasoning for being at Corporate when he ran into her. He was...keeping track of her whereabouts and directly placing himself in her path. He wasn't sure he would go as far as saying the man was stalking her. The very concept of that made his blood boil. And he couldn't let that happen, he needed to remain calm and think rationally to figure this thing out.

"Is he busy?" he asked of the brown-haired, gray-eyed secretary perched outside of his father's office.

"He just ended a call. You can go straight in," she affirmed.

Shane nodded, twisted the doorknob and strolled right into his father's office.

"What the-" Vince started and then smiled. "Shane"

His return smile was a little strained. "Hey, Dad."

Vince immediately noticed the look on his son's face. Clearly, his visit was not a smiling matter. "What's on your mind?"

"We've got a problem. It's Stephanie."

His heart sank. Had something happened to his daughter? Had something happened to his grandchild? "Is she okay?"

Shane nodded and let out a nervous chuckle. Of course Vince would jump to the worst case scenario. Then again, he couldn't blame him – his somber expression probably wasn't helping anything. "She's fine, Dad. But, she's a little shaken up."

"How come?"

"Well, you know she's staying with me right now. But you don't know why."

A sigh escaped Vince. Yes, he had thought it was weird that Stephanie was staying with Shane indefinitely. She liked her independence and loved her new house. But, his kids were grown, they could do what they wanted. He assumed Steph was just a little lonely or something. "Damn the suspense. Please just spit it out."

"Kurt Angle is sort of...tailing her."

The blood rushed to his face. So this is what it felt like when someone was _actually _after your daughter. When he'd set the Undertaker on her 3 years ago, she wasn't actually in any danger. The whole thing was planned out and he knew she wouldn't really be harmed. But, Stephanie hadn't known that – she reacted as any woman who was being stalked would...with fear and dread. To her, this must seem like déjà vu. "How do you know?"

Shane explained the situation, mostly, as Stephanie had explained it to him. He decided to omit some of the drama with Hunter. Vince didn't need to know that two of his top superstars had been fighting outside of the ring. And Hunter was going to try to earn Stephanie's forgiveness – so he didn't mention the awful accusations the man had made.

"Before I say anything, you have to know that I had no idea Stephanie was involved in this."

_Oh, no. _What had his father done this time? It seemed like as soon as there was peace and his family was getting along, someone – usually Vince or at least _because of _him – had to do something to screw it up.

"Ok," Shane replied simply. He wasn't going to judge. Not until he heard his father's story.

"I like to randomly have those who work closely with me...investigated, if you will."

The younger McMahon nodded. That was understandable, made sense and didn't at all seem like a problem.

"My secretary has had three large sums of money transferred into her account since February. We couldn't get the name of the other account holder but we know it was opened in Pennsylvania."

_Kurt's state. _Kurt Angle had bought off his father's secretary. But there were three sums of money, over the last three months. That indicated that the woman had given up more than just Stephanie's phone number. "If you have a printout with the dates, I'd like to see."

Vince nodded and retrieved the file for his son. A sick feeling crept into his gut. If he'd had any clue that Kurt was the one behind these deposits and was buying his daughter's information, he would've put a stop to it. He would never put Stephanie in legitimate danger – especially not while she was pregnant. If anything happened to her as a result of this, he'd never forgive himself.

"Right before the wedding renewals," Shane whispered.

That made sense. Everyone had been so caught up in the drama that unfolded and in trying to be there for Stephanie that they hadn't thought it through. They hadn't focused on the fact that someone had obtained his mother's whereabouts and anonymously sent the tape to her. The damn secretary would know where Linda was and how to get the tape to her. Just like she would be able to tell Kurt where and when his sister worked, what her phone number was and possibly even where she lived. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the bitch got paid every time she spilled the beans.

"What do you think we should do about this?" Vince asked. He seriously had no clue how to handle this situation.

Shane held a hand up and stiffened his posture. "I told Steph I'd handle this. I'll be keeping my promise to her."

"While I do what?" Vince asked, throwing his arms up in the air. "She's my daughter! I can't sit back and do nothing!"

"You can find out if that traitor secretary of yours knows anything about what Kurt is plotting. If he's a crazed stalker or an overeager love struck puppy."

"If he's a threat to her," Vince summarized.

"Exactly. Have your investigator keep an eye on Kurt and document everything. If he tries anything serious, take his ass down. If Stephanie needs to press charges at some point, we're going to need weight to add to her case. Find out everything you can."

Vince nodded, somewhat satisfied. He would be more pleased at doing a personal interrogation with the man, but he could settle for this. "Does Hunter know about this yet?"

"No and he doesn't need to. He wants to patch things up with Steph...the last thing she needs is for him to end up in jail for beating the hell out of Kurt."

Vince certainly agreed with that, but he didn't like it. If Hunter and Stephanie worked things out, it seemed like he should be aware of a potential danger to his wife and child. How could you protect someone if you had no idea what you were supposed to protect them _from_? It wasn't like he could just fire Kurt, either. The man's contract wasn't up until the end of the year. He wasn't too keen on declining to renew it. Kurt brought in big money...even if it was only so the fans could chant that he sucked. But, if it turned out that what he was doing went beyond an intense crush, he would choose his family over business.

Arena in New York

Hunter's music hit and he took a deep breath. This would be the second hardest thing he'd ever have to do. The first place winner would definitely be the conversation he would have with Stephanie one-on-one. If she allowed it, that is. The third place winner was when he had to apologize on live television for what Stephanie walked in on regarding Trish Stratus.

The crowd roared as he made his way to the ring. That had been happening a lot lately. It was a strange turn of events. He wasn't exactly a "good guy" in wrestling. But whenever he and Stephanie had problems, they cheered him. Even though she was no longer on television, the pop he would get when he came down had yet to leave.

He skipped doing his signature pose. He wasn't out here to be menacing, make jokes, threats or a good impression. He was here to be a man and own up to how wrong he had been.

"I really need to say a few things out here tonight," he began and waited for the fans to die down. "Important things." He paced the ring, rubbing at his beard.

"I need to start by saying that I was wrong. Very, very wrong. You see, three months ago I thought that my wife, Stephanie, lied to me about being pregnant." The crowd rumbled their disapproval and he paused until they stopped. "She didn't," he said simply. "Then when I found that out, I assumed she had been unfaithful." He hesitated and shook his head at his own damn stupidity. "And, of course, she hadn't."

"Stephanie, I know you're watching this right now. And I just need to say that words cannot express how sorry I am for not believing you. But, that's not all. I'm also sorry for the way I've treated you...in the past and especially within the last year. I want to apologize for letting my anger get the best of me on numerous occasions, to the point where I took it out on you. You deserve better than that."

He swallowed roughly and cleared his throat before he continued. "I also have to apologize to your family. They've helped make you into the woman that I know and love and the way I've treated you...it doesn't show my gratitude for that."

He stopped speaking and ran a hand over his face. Emotionally, he felt like a complete wreck. He just really hoped that this gesture and his words were effecting Stephanie positively.

"I have two favors to ask, now. Vince, you and I don't always see eye to eye. But Stephanie is important to us both. I need time off to try to undo some of the damage that I've done to her. I won't come back to the ring until I've done that. I'm asking for your permission...for this favor, Vince. But, if you don't grant my request I'll have to breach my contract. Trying to mend her heart after what I've done to it is the most important thing to me and I _will _give up my wrestling career if that's what it takes."

Once again, the crowd voiced their disapproval and he waited almost a full minute before it was quiet enough for him to continue. "The second favor...I ask of you, Steph. I want you to hear me out. There's a lot that you don't know about me, things that I've deliberately kept from you. I want to share those things with you now, because though I don't like to admit it, they're a large part of why I am the way that I am. I want you to allow me to explain it to you in person. You've put forth quite enough effort in this marriage, though. So, if you're willing to listen to me, don't do anything. I will come to see you tomorrow at seven. If you don't want to listen – and I really do understand why you may not want to, but I'm hoping you give me this – just send me a text message that simply says 'no' and I won't come." Okay, so he didn't plan to give up even if she sent the message. He would give her time and then try again. There was no need to say that now, though.

"Before you decide, Stephanie just know that I really, truly love you. A lot of the time, I'm really bad at expressing that and I'm sorry for it. We made our baby out of love and that's how I want it to be raised. I want our child to know that we love them and that we love each other. You said that you wouldn't keep me from our child and I really appreciate that and it just further shows me how good of a person you are, Steph. But, that's not what I want. I want us to be a family. And even though you're mad at and disappointed in me, I know you want that, too. So, please, give me the opportunity to prove it to you by telling you all about my life before I met you."

Miles away, Stephanie sat staring at the television with unshed tears in her eyes. As soon as Hunter had gone to the ring and said he knew she was watching, she'd glared at Shane. Her brother had been insistent that they all sit down together and watch Raw. It was clear he had been up to something, but she didn't ask what.

Hunter's apologies seemed extremely sincere. She did love him. There was no doubt about that. And even though he had stomped on her heart more times than she could count, she did long for them to be a family. But, she imagined that it was better to raise their child separate and peacefully, than together and arguing all the time. That wasn't healthy for anyone involved.

Then again, Hunter had said he wanted to open up to her fully. If he did that, maybe they could have a strong relationship. Or maybe it would be good for all of a month and then go straight to hell again. If his past was really what caused his temper and distrustful nature, one conversation probably wouldn't magically change that. She wasn't sure if she should take the chance.

Ignoring the curious, anxious gazes of Shane and Marissa, she reached over and picked up her cell phone. Inwardly, she willed her hands to stop shaking. There were two letters that she needed to type and her stupid fingers needed to hit the keys with precision so she'd get it right. She scrolled through her phone until she reached the messaging feature. She keyed in the letter 'n" and then the letter 'o'. Apprehensively, she chewed her lip. It was sort of sad that this one, simple, two-letter message might just determine the fate of her marriage – or what was left of it – and how her child was raised.

She scrolled through her contacts and allowed it highlight the name directly above Hunter's.

The back of her throat began to burn lightly. It was now or never. She either allowed her husband to have this one last chance or she didn't. If she denied him, that would be it. Their marriage would officially be completely over and there'd be nothing left to do but file for a divorce. Though, she knew she was likely incapable of initiating it and judging by what Hunter said in the ring, he didn't intend to take on the task, either. So, maybe they'd just be indefinitely separated.

"I expect you to have faith in me! I expect you to trust me!" She recalled her own words to her husband just days ago.

Was she still capable of faith and trust? Did she have it in her to trust that he was telling the truth and faith that his admission would get them back on track? She used her free hand to reach into the bag on her lap to retrieve a Reese's. She considered briefly, while she savored the chocolate. And it hit her.

Hunter had given her this candy. He had given her flowers...soft-colored flowers. Not a romantic or sexy color – he wasn't trying to seduce her. The flowers had been white, yellow and pink.

White for innocence and humility, yellow for friendship and joy, and pink for gentility and happiness.

It meant something, that he'd done that. That he'd remembered those things about her, when it seemed like everything she said went in one ear and out of the other. And it meant something that he'd gone down to the ring and poured his heart out to the crowd. He could have easily called her to do that. But, he recognized that much of what he had done had been on national television. When he accused her of faking her pregnancy, it had been on national television. He understood the little things...he understood that he should acknowledge his mistake not just in front of her, but to everyone he'd humiliated her in front of.

Her decision was made. She finally looked up to meet Shane and Marissa's anxious glances. "I'm heading home after work, tomorrow," she announced.

Marissa let out an embarrassing, girly squeal before she covered her mouth and apologized sheepishly. Shane merely smiled, happy that he'd agreed to help Hunter.

Stephanie's cell phone rang and she glanced at the caller ID: private number.

What the hell was _wrong _with Kurt Angle anyway? Did he not get the hint? Was he unable to comprehend that she wanted nothing to do with him? She couldn't believe what the man had done, in trying to destroy her marriage. Again.

It was still Hunter's fault for believing some random, unmarked video tape from her mother, over her. There were still major trust issues, for sure. But at least she understood what had triggered the doubt in his mind. She was so broken up over the entire situation that she'd refused to talk about it. Her family had tried to tell her about what had spawned her husband's seemingly sudden outrage, but she wouldn't let them. She just wanted to bury it and pretend it never happened. Because it didn't matter _why _he didn't believe her. It only mattered that he didn't. It only mattered that he had chosen to believe and had let that cause him to do what he did at their wedding renewals.

That still held true, but now she got to be mad at Kurt for it, too. If he knew what was good for him, he would stay the hell out of her life.

She ignored the call and turned the phone off.

She wasn't going to send the message, so it wasn't like she needed her cell phone tonight anyway.


	9. Confrontations and Confessions

LOL at the expression "squee" but I must agree. Well, in this chapter Hunter tells her about his past...but of a cliffhanger at the end. I'm unsure about a sequel mostly because I don't know what the heck I'd do with (or "to"...you know me and my evil) the characters. So for now, I'll semi-compromise and just make these last couple of chapters longer than I'd intended. Once you guys read the epilogue you'll see why I'm leaning towards nay on the sequel, because it jumps forward by several months. LOL. If anything, I'd do a one-shot or two kind of sequel.

Hope you all enjoy, let me know!

* * *

Streets of New York: Monday night

Shane had done his part with Hunter and Stephanie. He wasn't going to interfere and tell his sister what to do. But, he was rooting for Hunter to get her back. Despite everything that happened, it was clear that he loved Stephanie. Even when he thought she was lying, Hunter had come to him and asked for his sister's whereabouts. That meant something. Granted, he royally screwed that opportunity up by accusing her of being pregnant with Kurt's baby. But, they obviously still loved each other and were going to have a baby together in four months.

What Hunter said in the ring, rang true. There was likely some huge reason for why he behaved and thought as he did. And if he was willing to discuss it with Stephanie, they could probably work through it. At the very least it would drive home to Stephanie that it wasn't her fault her relationship was in shambles.

He thought of these things while he sat in the living room with his wife and sister. Then, Kurt Angle decided to stick his nose where it didn't belong again. It probably wasn't a coincidence that right after Hunter's apology and request, the man decided to call. At first, Shane was going to wait to confront Angle, but the opportune timing of his call, pissed him off to no end. He was going to do this now. Before Kurt found some way to screw up Hunter and Stephanie's talk tomorrow.

He pulled into the garage of the arena, parked his car and hopped out. Casually, he tossed his keys to a random employee backstage "Watch that, will you?"

Shane didn't wait for the response, he just continued to the locker room area. He scanned the names of each room, growing angrier by the second, until he saw one that said, "Kurt Angle, Olympic Hero." He let out a dark laugh. Sure, Kurt was an Olympic champion. But, by no means was this man a hero. He was an opportunist, would-be home wrecker and just an all-around asshole. Briefly, he considered just barging in. But, if Kurt was in there changing clothes or something, he would be scarred for life at the image. So, he raised his hand and knocked instead.

When Kurt said, "Come in," Shane took a deep breath before throwing the door open violently.

"Shane," Kurt said cautiously. The other man did not look very happy. "What can I do for you?"

The brown-eyed man shook his head. "You can't do anything for me," he corrected. "You can do something for _you._ You stay the hell away from my sister."

Kurt chuckled. "I haven't seen Steph in days."

Shane walked over to hover above Kurt, who was sitting on his couch. "And it's going to stay that way. You're going to stop playing games, Kurt. No more buying her information, no more video tapes, no more showing up at her job."

Kurt stood up, to look Shane directly in the eyes. "And what makes you think I've done any of that?" His face was a mirror of innocence, but it wasn't convincing enough. The beginnings of a cocky smirk were playing on his lips and his eyes twinkled in amusement.

Shane's finger found itself pressed into Kurt's chest. "Don't you worry about that. Just knock it off. That's an order from the entire McMahon family."

"You're off your rocker, you know? You're just as crazy as your old man."

That was the last straw. Shane's fist reared back and slammed into Kurt's left cheekbone. He lost his footing and fell back onto the couch, with his hand pressed to his face. "I'm not going to tell you again. You try anything else and your career ends...after me, my father and Hunter pummel you in the ring."

Kurt glared at Shane as he turned around and walked out, slamming the door behind him. What was it with the McMahon-Helmsley family anyway? Their punches really hurt!

For the next thirty minutes he sat in his lock room, nursing his freshest injury with an ice pack. He didn't know how exactly they had found out what he was doing. The secretary wouldn't volunteer that information – not when she would be in just as much trouble for it as he would. But, it was obvious he couldn't use the woman again. Besides, his contract was up at the end of the year. He couldn't screw up the chance of getting it renewed. With his mole into Stephanie's life gone and his actions exposed, there was nothing left to do...except stop. He wasn't going to give up entirely. Not yet. He was confident Hunter would screw things up with Stephanie again soon. When he did, he would be there to comfort Stephanie. That thought put a little smile on his face. If he smiled any wider, his cheek would throb again.

Stamford, Connecticut: Tuesday

Stephanie had been a ball of nerves all day at work. She could hardly concentrate. Lucky for her, she was so efficient at her job that her quality of work wasn't really affected. Tonight she would talk to Hunter. She would learn what exactly made him tick. Truth be told, she wasn't sure if she was ready for it. What if he had done something terrible and was simply haunted by it? Maybe she was better off not knowing.

Then, there was the chance that some incident had traumatized him emotionally. But what could it be? If it was _that _bad and he needed her help to get through it...how would she manage that? How would she keep her own emotions in check long enough to help him?

What if some accident had caused him brain damage? She knew that scarring to certain areas of the brain caused people to lash out in anger and be irrational at times, totally unable to control their impulses. If that's what had happened, how would she deal with that? That kind of thing couldn't be worked on, could it? Doctors weren't able to de-scar a brain.

There was also the possibility that what her husband would say would be totally random and not make any sense to her whatsoever. What if he simply said his dog died when he was a kid and his mother told him it had really ran away. Thusly, he distrusted people ever since. She would have a really hard time _not _rolling her eyes in disbelief that such an incident would cause his behavior.

So, she found herself half-hoping that what he would say would be deep...but also afraid of how deep it went. There was the chance that it went so far down that she'd be unable to help him get out.

But, Hunter would be here soon. She was going to try not to stress herself out with the scenarios. It might turn out that none of them were correct. She paced her living room floor anxiously. He would be here within the next few minutes.

Streets of Stamford, Connecticut

Hunter pulled onto Stephanie's street and slowed the car down to a crawl. He was nervous. How would his wife react to what he was about to tell her? Would she think less of him and shun him? Or would her opinion of him be unchanged? Then there was always the best case scenario: that she reacted positively to what he had to say.

And then what? Would they get back together? Or would she decide that he had too many damn issues for her to deal with. Surely, a woman like her could find someone...normal.

Despite his deliberately slow driving, he was at her house before he was ready to be. Then again, he wasn't sure if he would ever really be ready for this. He had kept these things to himself for a reason and thus far it had served him well.

_Except that I've completely and totally screwed up my marriage and broken my wife's heart. _Okay. So, maybe the lone wolf approach hadn't been so great. He pulled his car over to the curb and shut off the engine. For a second he stayed put, gripping the steering wheel in an attempt to find the nerve to have this conversation. He could possibly be rejected on two different levels.

And what if this was somehow a game? It was possible that Stephanie was allowing him to open up to her, specifically so she could shoot him down. So that she could hurt him the way that he had hurt her.

He shook his head. That was a ridiculous idea. Stephanie wasn't the one who requested that he do this...he had offered. He expelled a tense breath. The possible scenarios were just an excuse to keep himself bottled up. It was time to stop being such a damn chicken. He unhooked his seat beat and exited the car. He walked up the walkway and came to a stop at her door. He smoothed a hand over his hair and balled his fingers into a fist, preparing to knock.

The door creaked opened softly and there she was. Obviously, she'd been watching him. But, that thought comforted him...because she hadn't rushed him. She'd allowed him time to compose himself for this.

"Hi," she said softly and with a small smile.

Hunter swallowed the lump that suddenly lodged itself in his throat. "Hey."

She opened the door wider and stepped aside so he could walk through. His legs felt like absolute lead as he did so. He watched as she closed the front door and moved to take a seat on the end of her leather couch. She gestured to the loveseat that was perpendicular to it. He took her up on the offer and sat at the end closest to the couch. Closer to her; she was within arms-distance of him. There was absolute silence, except the rustling of leather while he took off his coat.

"Do you, ah," she cleared her throat. "Want something...to drink?" She asked.

A bright smile crossed Hunter's face and warmed his insides. Stephanie was nervous, too. That simple fact melted away the overwhelming sense of dread he had felt. This meant just as much to her as it did to him. "I'm fine, thanks."

He got another small smile out of her. Then, she folded her hands in her lap and dropped her gaze to them momentarily, clearing her throat again. Expectantly she looked back up at him.

"You know how I said my parents died in an accident and I didn't know of any other family members?" He decided to begin with the very root of the things he'd kept from or mislead her on.

She lifted her eyebrow a fraction and confirmed. "Yeah." Oh, God. What if he had lied to her and his entire family was off living in some other state? What if she hadn't met them because he was ashamed of their marriage or something?

"That's partially true. My biological parents were addicts. Alcohol and powdered cocaine mostly. My mother must not have been using when she was pregnant with me, since I don't have any health issues," he observed before going back to his story. "We traveled from place to place, never settling down. We stayed in abandoned houses and buildings mostly. Occasionally, they'd spring for a motel. My old man? Used to knock me around some...make me beg on the street and pickpocket to get more cash for us."

Stephanie remained completely silent. Her husband grew up with fucking addicts who didn't even have the decency to make enough money to feed him. He'd been physically abused and forced into an early life of crime. She was furious, she was sad. Overall, she just felt overwhelming remorse for the little boy that he had been. She wanted to comfort him – the scarred man and the traumatized child. But, she couldn't yet. He wasn't done telling his story. But, she shuddered to think of what else he could possibly have to say.

"I ran away when I was 8 years old. My biological parents didn't even try to find me. And since they were the type to live off the grid and wander about, the state never found them. I had no records on file, but I knew my own name and birthday. My parents had told me that information before. All those documents had to be created when I ended up in the system. Even though I hadn't ever been in school, I had managed to learn a lot of things. So, I was able to test into the appropriate grade for my age. I bounced from foster home to foster home. It's really hard for an older child to get adopted, you know. I ended up with this really nice, late middle aged couple who I think was considering adopting me after I was staying with them for about a year. They're the ones who died in the car crash."

Stephanie placed a hand to her heart. "I'm sorry, Hunter." It must have been even harder on him to lose that sense of stability at such a young age. It was no wonder he had some issues.

"So it was back to foster home after foster home...some of the parents were okay but most were mean and just in it for the money and some would knock me around from time to time. I ended up with this rich family in Greenwich when I was 16. At first...and from the outside, it looked like I got damn lucky."

If she took her best guess, it would be that this Greenwich family had been awful to him, too. Stephanie swallowed, in preparation for what torture this other family had inflicted on her husband. There had to be a reason he was going to go into detail about them.

"They were," Hunter tilted his head from left to right, "Abusive-light." He gave her a wry smile. "Tame, compared to other situations I was in. Mostly ear flicking and hard pinches. Nothing to alert the authorities. They made sure to remind me, daily, how much of a reject I was and how grateful I should be that they took me in. Their kids had nice things...but the foster kids - there were 3 of us - had the old, worn out hand me downs and clothes that didn't fit. We weren't allowed to eat at the dining room table with everyone else. We ate a totally different meal in the back house, with the hired help. Think filet mignon and pasta versus spam and Ramen noodles."

"Jesus," Stephanie muttered, with a shake of her head. Some people just really shouldn't be allowed to be foster parents. She wasn't naive, but she thought that most people became foster parents because they truly wanted to help kids. But, judging from Hunter's story it seemed like some people took on foster kids just to get a check, look good in society or to have someone smaller and younger to pick on.

"At school, we were a laughing stock. Here were all these rich kids with the best of everything and we were teased for being the poor, abandoned kids no one wanted. I was scrawny then, too, so sometimes I got beat up." He took a moment to feel the bitterness of the next memory. Back then, _one _person was more than enough to kick his ass. Three was just downright cruel. And even though he was considered to be trash compared to the other kids, he was still a human being. But, no one had helped him. Instead, some had simply turned a blind eye, some had stared and a few had formed a circle, urging his tormentors to continue. "I got sick of the shit when I got jumped by 3 guys and a crowd of people just stood around cheering them on."

"I wanted to get bigger...stronger. You know, so people wouldn't mess with me. But, my foster family wouldn't let me be on their gym family plan."

"Of course not," Stephanie chimed in sarcastically. "Bastards," she mumbled venomously.

Hunter chuckled. He was glad that his wife was taking this well. "I started using things around the house for workouts and it was pretty effective. I turned 18 before I graduated high school, so I got a job at the front desk of a gym and used the free membership to bulk up even more. I beat the shit out of every last one of those kids," he told her, smiling fondly at the memory. "People feared me but suddenly wanted to be friends. Maybe for protection, I don't know. But I got real good at shutting people out. And mostly, that was fine, because other than that elderly couple, no one good had ever been in my life. I mean there's Shawn, Kev and those guys but that's different. Then there's you."

Stephanie nodded. "I understand. I get why you are the way you are. But, it's not my fault, I didn't mistreat you back then. All I've ever done is love you and you still don't trust me."

"I know," he admitted. "I know and I'm sorry. It's just that in my life, whenever something seemed to be good, it either wasn't at all, or it blew up in my face horribly. With you, I'm constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. You know? For the first year of our marriage I was kind of able to put it aside and just be happy. Then Kurt fucking Angle comes along and I kind of lost it. Then we were fine again...then I got injured and I really lost it. Baby, I pushed you away because I realized how much I..." he trailed off and lowered his head a little.

"Tell me," she urged, reaching out to rub his shoulder briefly.

"I realized how much I depended on you. I've never depended on anyone for anything. I never could. But when I realized how much I needed you, it scared the shit out of me and I just felt like I had to send you away and get back to only depending on myself."

Stephanie sighed. "Hunter...love and marriage are..." she trailed off, not knowing how to word her thoughts. "It's about us. It's not just about you or me or looking out for our own interests. It's about what's best for us, as a couple. A lot of the time, you have to forgo what you want or need, to do what the other person needs...and the other person should do the same. When that happens, no one has really lost anything. It balances out and everyone has what they need."

He lifted his head to look at her. "We're out of balance, aren't we?"

"Oh, you have no idea!" She laughed. "But I do have a question." At his nod, she continued. "Why didn't you tell me any of this before?"

"I was ashamed. I mean I came in as a blue blood snob and used my last address in Greenwich and all of that, to impress your dad so I could get signed."

"But by the time we got together you had been in DX for years. It was safe to say the snob persona was out of the window." Truer words had never been spoken. The antics that the faction had pulled were unparalleled in their sometimes juvenile but mostly raunchy nature.

"Yeah, but people just kind of assumed I was the prep boy, turned bad. When we got together I worried that you'd think I wasn't good enough for you, because of my family background...or lack thereof."

"Hunter...I may not have been in the system, but my family life hasn't been stellar. You've seen some of the shit my family does to each other. Sometimes it's entertaining, after the fact, but for the most part it's sad. I mean, Shane practically raised me. We got teased and ended up in a few fights in school because the other rich kids were of fancier origins and our dad made his money basically being an athlete of a sport nobody thought was real. We had material things, but only because my dad wanted to prove he could keep up with the other parents. People wanted to be my friend because my dad splurged on me and anyone who was with me just to prove a point. We had different upbringings for sure, but it's the same result...we have difficulty with trust."

"You don't," he pointed out. "You trust me."

She raised her hand meekly. "I have two confessions and I hope you don't hold them against me too much."

"After what I've done, what I've kept from you, you can do no wrong," he insisted.

"Okay...well. First, during that whole Trish Stratus thing, I was worried. Even after you explained yourself, there was a part of me that wondered if you had or would cheat on me with her."

"Understandable. I felt the same way about the thing with you and Kurt Angle."

Visibly, she winced.

"Stephanie?" he questioned, feeling every last ounce of color drain from his face.


	10. Antithesis of a Boomerang

LOL! I decided to post this asap since it was mostly already done...before you guys have a heart attack over there. Initially this chapter was going to be short and have a cliffhanger about halfway in. But, I decided that was mean. LOL. I've got nothing typed up for the epilogue so give me a bit to work on that. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Hunter had blamed himself for being paranoid about his wife having an affair. But, judging from what just occurred, his fears had been absolutely correct. Here he was, thinking he'd been screwing up their marriage all by himself for over a year, but it turns out that he'd had some help in that department. Suddenly, it made perfect sense that Kurt Angle was taking her out to dinner...he'd had her before.

So, he'd kept secrets from Stephanie. He'd told some half-truths and omitted some things entirely. But, he'd never done something as horrible as being unfaithful to her. He hadn't betrayed her and their marriage vows entirely. Even if what he had mislead her on was somewhat of a betrayal in and of itself.

He chuckled bitterly. "So this is why he was taking you to dinner that day, huh?"

Stephanie swallowed nervously. It wasn't hard to guess what conclusions her husband had jumped to. She had to play this cool, though. Kurt Angle had definitely been keeping track of her whereabouts and she didn't want Hunter to know that. Right now, they simply needed to focus on their relationship. She couldn't have him flying off the handle and beating the hell out of Kurt while their relationship was still so wrecked. "No," she replied indifferently. "He just happened to be at Corporate that day. We ran into each other in the parking lot and he made the offer."

"Don't patronize me, Stephanie," he told her sternly. "The dinner...or almost-dinner is the least of my concerns with you and him."

"Hunter, just calm down. Ok? It isn't what you think."

He shook his head, to try to force out the anger. He wasn't going to explode. Not yet, anyway. She had listened to his story. She'd damn well tell hers and he would listen just as eagerly. Mostly, because he wanted, so badly to believe that she hadn't stepped out on him. Their problems were numerous and bad enough without adding infidelity to it. All his life, he had gone around not trusting people. Throughout his marriage he had never quite fully trusted Stephanie. If she validated that by admitting to having an affair...he didn't know how he would handle it. The world possibly wouldn't come crashing down, because he'd always prepared himself for people to screw him over. But, given that he had just poured out his heart and his back story to her, that made the potential treachery even worse. "Then please explain. Right now."

Stephanie took a deep breath to try to prepare herself to tell him this. He would have to keep an open mind otherwise what she said would fly right over his head. There was a reason she hadn't explained herself back then. Lying had definitely been the way to go, since she wanted to keep her marriage _and _hadn't actually done anything wrong. This was going to be her second confession anyway...that she had lied that one time. "At Summerslam...in 2000, when you and Kurt were fighting and I got knocked out."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You mean when you disappeared for an entire day?" He asked. "When you claimed you were at the hospital with Shane," he added sarcastically.

"Yeah. That." Jesus, she had to get this out as quickly as possible. Dragging it out was leaving Hunter too much time to get angry and jump to conclusions. She could see him struggling to not lose his temper already. "Kurt and I did not have sex," she clarified. "But we were in the same room that night."

Hunter's eyebrows raised. "And what were you doing? Playing chess?"

"I was doped up and knocked out from pain medication that night and most of the next day. And I didn't have my bag, so I couldn't call from my cell phone, when I was finally lucid enough. I knew you'd be at the arena and not paying attention to your phone anyway. So, I just went to our room and waited for you until you came back from Raw."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

Rudely, Stephanie let out a snort along with her laugh. "Sorry."

"This isn't funny at all Stephanie. You blatantly lied to me," he said through his teeth. "You want me to trust you, but you lied."

"It is funny," she disagreed. "It is very funny that you're asking me why I didn't tell you sooner, when 3 minutes ago, you admitted to having doubted my faithfulness when it came to Kurt. You wouldn't have listened to me back then. Hell, the only reason you're listening to me now is because you feel so bad about the mess we're in."

Hunter nodded. She had him there. And she was telling the truth now, that's what mattered. It was over and in the past on his and Stephanie's end. But Kurt was still on his shit list and if he knew what was best for him, he had better stay the hell away from his wife. They fell into an easy silence for a few moments, before Hunter spoke again. "You know what burns me up the most"

Reluctantly, Stephanie shook her head, hoping he didn't have any more input on the Kurt revelation. "No...what?"

"Even though my birth parents didn't give a shit about me...once I was in the WWE I kind of hoped they'd come find me."

Her eyes widened. That was the last things she had expected him to say. "Why?"

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "Validation or something. I wanted them to pop up looking for a handout, so I could tell them to shove it." A small smile appeared, but he got a contemplative look in his eyes. "That never happened. Isn't that crazy? I'm rich and famous and they still don't want me."

A sigh escaped her lips. The trust issues were easy to categorize. She didn't know what the hell to call _this _one. _Maybe an issue of abandonment or feeling worthless? _She pondered, while she chose her next words. "Hunter, they were addicts. They may have passed on already. And if they're still living, they've probably never even heard of the WWE."

"Maybe you're right..."

"Either way, it doesn't matter. I love you," she reached out and grabbed his hand, placing it on top of her stomach. As if on cue, their baby kicked and she grinned. "And so does our baby."

He took her free hand in his and toyed with her wedding ring. "Thanks for that." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "You brought up the next topic of conversation, too."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Our relationship. I know I've hurt you...a lot, over this last year especially. I want to fix it, if you'll let me."

Stephanie sighed and dropped her gaze to their joined hands. While she understood how her husband ended up being mistrustful and angry, they couldn't just turn back the hands of time. The pain and devastation he'd caused her didn't just magically disappear because she knew his history now. "Please don't be mad at me," she began, her gaze still averted.

Taking a deep breath, Hunter moved his hand from her stomach and used his index finger to lift her chin and make her look at him. The sadness that he saw there, gave him his answer. Clearly, she loved him. That much was obvious and she had already admitted to it. But, sometimes love just wasn't enough. Sometimes apologies came too late. He ran his thumb over the dent in her chin, smiling when she closed her eyes at the touch. With a sigh, he got up from the loveseat.

Stephanie's eyes flew open and she looked at him, confused. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving. I don't want to make this any harder on you than it has to be. I understand that I've hurt you too much for you to forgive me," he admitted sadly.

In silence, she watched him grab his coat and slowly head for the front door. When he got to it, he put his hand on the doorknob and turned back around to face her. "I love you," he told her. Stephanie simply blinked in response and continued to stare silently while he unlocked and then walked out of the door, shutting it behind himself.

Outside, Hunter still stood in the porch. He needed a moment to digest everything that had just happened. He was glad Stephanie wasn't exactly angry with him for withholding information. But, that filled him with overwhelming sadness, too. He had kept these things from her, fearing that she wouldn't want to be with him anymore, if she knew. But, she'd reacted well and it killed him. It was devastating, because obviously if he had told her sooner, they could have avoided a lot of problems. Telling her now did nothing. It couldn't make it so that Stephanie hadn't gone through her pregnancy alone for three months or change the fact that he'd absolutely broken her heart.

But, they were still going to be parents together. He would make sure to stay in touch so that they could decide how best to raise their child.

He turned back around when he heard the door behind him open. Stephanie stood there, with her arms crossed over her chest while she tapped her foot irritably.

She shook her head and pressed her lips into a tight line before speaking. "Are you kidding me?" she asked incredulously. "We're really going to have to work on your whole 'think the worst where Stephanie is concerned' thing."

His cheeks reddened in embarrassment. He laughed nervously and said, "Well you looked so sad and you have to admit, your introductory sentence sounded pretty bad."

With a nod, she agreed. "Yeah...sorry, gotta get used to having an impressionable man," she shook her head in amusement. "I was sad because I wish this could be instant...you know, putting this behind us. But it's not. It's going to take time and lots of work. So, I have some conditions." She reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him back inside the house.

When they were back inside, Hunter kept her hand in his and used his free hand to shut and lock the door.

"You can have anything, you want," he blurted out sincerely, with a goofy grin. He was just happy he was getting his wife back, even if things weren't instantaneously made right. If she asked for the sun and the moon, he would damn well find a creative way to give them to her.

"I think we should live separately for a bit. While we...date," she suggested.

Thoroughly entertained, he lifted an eyebrow. "Little late for dating, don't you think?" He gestured towards her stomach and winked.

She chuckled. "We both learned a lot of vital information about each other tonight. And this is after being married for almost two and a half years and you knocking me up. Something is wrong with that picture."

"Our relationship began sort of suddenly."

After rolling her eyes, she told him, "Ha. Ha."

He held up his hands in his defense. "All right, all right...so...dating?" He queried.

"Yep. Dinners, movies, beach trips, picnics. Date-like things."

"But, don't we already do that stuff?"

She nodded. "We do, but we always focused on the present and totally ignored discussing what life was like before we met. So we're going to shift our focus...past, present and future."

Hunter rubbed at his beard, considering. "I could get behind that idea...if your visions of the future include me."

Stephanie poked him in the stomach. "Suck up," she teased.

"Of course. Got a lot of making up to you, to do." He placed his free hand on her waist and stepped closer to her.

She cleared her throat and ignored the urges that were beginning to surface. This was the closest he had been to her in three months. "Before you get any ideas...there will be no sex for a while. We can't use that to distract us from our problems. When we both feel we've got it sorted, then we can be together...living together again."

"Next stipulation," he urged. He knew that her ideas were good and would ultimately help them in the long run. But, he'd already been without her for 3 months. Having their relationship on ice, so to speak, wasn't high on his list of ideas to facilitate the health of their marriage.

"Therapy," she said bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Maybe he hadn't heard her right. They had their problems, but neither of them was crazy. They'd admitted their problems and their pasts to each other. Damn it, they had a plan for fixing everything. In his opinion, outside help was both unwanted and unnecessary.

Stephanie held up a hand, silently asking him to hear her out. "We've both got issues from our past, from our childhood, Hunter."

"But, we already talked about it," was his attempt to protest.

"I know. But, talking about it that one time isn't going to suddenly make either of us okay with it. It's not going to do much with the harmful personality traits it's caused either," she reasoned.

He released her hand and stepped back, shaking his head in defiance. "I don't want or need a shrink, Steph," he told her point blank.

"You, alone, might not, but we do," she gestured to him, her and her belly. "If this family is going to survive without fighting, lying and distrusting each other all the time, we need this."

"But-"

"You said I could have whatever I wanted," she reminded him.

Hunter muttered unintelligibly under his breath. Leave it to Stephanie to find the one thing he would have a problem giving her. Shrinks were for crazy people. And for spoiled rich people to drone on about how boring life was, without the struggles that plagued the less fortunate. They weren't for people like him or like Stephanie, who simply battled through their problems without assistance.

Speculatively, he eyed his wife. Her eyes were pleading with him to agree to this. She had been specific with the categorization of her requests. This was a condition. A stipulation. An ultimatum. They had screwed their relationship up so badly, that she wasn't willing to try unless they had professional help at it. Really, he couldn't blame her. And maybe since they had already come to terms with their issues on their own, therapy wouldn't be so bad. They should be able to move through it fairly quickly. _Certainly, we'll be done with our sessions by November, _he thought.

Reluctantly, he caved. He still wasn't too keen on the idea but if it helped their marriage he would do it. "You got it, but I want to negotiate a condition of my own."

Her brow arched curiously. _This should be good. _"And that would be?"

"Marry me," he told her. "Marry me, again, on our anniversary."

Stephanie's smile practically lit up the entire room. "Can I kiss you?" she asked. "Or is that too much contact?"

He smirked and tapped her on the nose. "Remember what I said: anything you want."

As they fell into each other's arms, their problems seemed to diminish. When they were out of air, they pulled apart and stared at each other for a few moments. Stephanie tried desperately to pretend that she hadn't secretly craved this moment...his touch, for months. The no-sex rule was her idea and here she was about to fail miserably at it after 5 minutes. He reached out and trailed a finger along her jaw."Thank you," he told her.

"For what?"

"Everything."

Streets of Connecticut

On the short drive back to the house they used to share in Greenwich, he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. He decided not to dwell on the negative – on the fact that they were living apart for the time being. Stephanie was hardly a twenty minute drive away and he was positive that very soon, they would share one roof again. Until then, he would just have to make the short commute to take her on dates and visit her. He was also considered to be "on call" to tag along for her late night craving excursions.

There was no doubt, that he had wasted Stephanie's love for him several times. It was then, that he was hit with an epiphany. Love wasn't a boomerang; it didn't just automatically come back to you when you threw it away. Most of the time you had to go out and get it back for yourself.

And he had some of his wife's love back already. And dating, living apart, abstinence and therapy be damned, he was determined to get all of it back.


	11. Easy

Okay, so still no sequel for this one. But, I did get a good idea from one of the reviews...to write out at least a couple of the dates! So, this one will be extended a little bit!

There probably won't be an epilogue, because the dates and whatnot, will consistently jump forward by at least a couple of weeks. Hope you all enjoy this and that it makes up for there not being a real sequel! LOL. Reviews are greatly encouraged and appreciated. I apologize in advance for any typos - often I don't catch them until the chapter is posted haha. Enjoy the fluff!

Stamford, Connecticut

Nervously, Hunter shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He inhaled deeply and twirled the single, red rose in between his fingers. Tonight was his first date with Stephanie. All day he had driven himself crazy over the details. He wanted everything to be perfect, but he had no idea how to make it so. On a traditional first date, there was some sort of outline on what you were supposed to do and talk about. But, he was...dating his own wife.

Usually you were able to start off with a clean slate when dating. But, he had already had a shot at a life with her. And he had screwed that up royally. As a result, they were totally and completely starting over. The problem was that it was impossible to do really do that. They already loved each other and were going to be parents. They already knew each other's favorite colors, foods and activities. What the hell were they supposed to have a conversation about?

The idea had been amusing to him, when his wife suggested it. He figured it would be a piece of cake. Right up until Steph decided to let him do the planning. He'd been freaking out ever since. Just like on a real first date, he didn't want to screw it up and ruin things forever. Logically, he knew he couldn't do that – they knew each other too well to not have a great time. But, that did nothing to calm his nerves.

He lifted a hand and smoothed it over his hair. It was slicked back into a neat ponytail, just like it had been when he had checked it five minutes prior. What the hell was happening to him? It would be hilarious if he wasn't so anxious. He took yet another deep breath and prepared to knock.

Inside the house, Stephanie visually criticized her reflection in the mirror for the tenth time that evening. She appraised her appearance on the left side, before turning to stare at the right side. She lifted her arm up and wiggled, wincing at how the shirt moved. "Damn it," she cursed in a hiss, narrowing her eyes. "Don't buy your current size, she said," Stephanie whipped the top off over her head and threw it carelessly onto the bed. She placed her hands on her hips, staring in disapproval of the pile of clothes littering her bed. "You're going to get bigger, so get the next size up to get more use out of the outfit, she advised," she let out a disgusted breath and padded back over to her closet. She shook her head at each article of clothing she rejected. The hangers clanked noisily, furthering her irritation. "Well, now everything is too big! Thanks a lot, Rissa!"

Accepting defeat, she yanked a black and grey striped cardigan from one of the hangers and paired it with a white camisole. Quickly, she dragged on and zipped a pair of black boots that stopped just below her knees. She picked imaginary lint from her dark blue skinny jeans and this time she smiled at her outfit. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and she jumped slightly.

She grabbed a watch from her dresser, frowning at the time. Hunter was early. She fastened the watch to her wrist and quickly put on a pair of silver, hoop earrings. She ran her hands through her hair, tousling the curls. Finally satisfied with the way she looked she made her way to the front door.

"Here goes nothing," she reassured herself before pulling the door open.

"Hi," her husband greeted, with a wide smile.

Stephanie smiled and bit down on her lip. He looked really good in a blue, button-down shirt, denim jeans that fit just right and casual black shoes. He had left the top two buttons of his shirt undone, exposing his smooth, chiseled, tan skin. He had his arms behind his back, which only served to make his upper body stand out even more. She was totally unaware that she was staring until she heard Hunter chuckle softly. Finally, she forced her eyes to meet his. Her cheeks reddened in total embarrassment at the teasing glint in his hazel eyes. She cleared her throat and smiled, "Hi."

From behind his back, Hunter produced a bright red rose. "This is for you," he told her.

She grinned at him and took the rose. "Thanks," she said, sincerely, totally unaware that her gaze had traveled downward, yet again.

Hunter drew in his bottom lip in an attempt to hide his amusement. "See something you like?"

_Damn it, _she cursed herself, locking her eyes with his once more. "Yes," she admitted freely. "The rose is nice," she covered with a sly smile, laughing when his face fell in a mock pout. "Come on in," she invited, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside the house.

He whistled loudly, while she led him through the living room and dining room before stopping in the kitchen. "Nice digs," he commented.

Stephanie chuckled. It was cute of him to pretend that he had never been here before. "You know, I don't usually invite a guy into my home on the first date," she commented, cheekily. She released his hand to grab the vase that was situated by the window. She placed the newest rose next to the one that he must have left on her doorstep earlier.

When she had the flower situated, Hunter grabbed her hand again and turned her around to face him. "Your home," he started, before trailing off while he used his other hand to run up and down the shallow dent in her chin. "Our home, is in Greenwich." He leaned down to her height, pressing a light kiss against the top of her ear. "Don't forget that," he whispered to her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I won't forget," she promised. How could she forget? For the last three months, she had to purposely force herself to call her rented house her home. She consistently had to ignore how lonely and unfamiliar it felt, at times. This place held no real memories for her. It may as well have been a hotel room.

Her and Hunter had made a home together. There were touches of both of their styles everywhere. It was balanced and blended. This place, was all her, but it failed to recreate the warmth and security of the house she had with Hunter. This place was loveless and hollow. She could never forget that this house wasn't really her home – even if she had to try to make it be, because she had been unsure of whether or not her and Hunter would ever be together again. But, she was ridiculously touched that he felt the need to remind her that she belonged with him.

Stephanie held him tightly. She didn't know if it was her hormones or the gravity of the situation, but she was overwhelmed. The way his clothes fit him, the way he held her and the faint scent of his cologne were sending her in ten different directions, almost. Just like when they had kissed after their talk just days ago, her desire for him welled up and she tried her best to focus on what was happening.

She also felt the urge to cry, because she was _that _happy to be with him again. During their time apart she had convinced herself that she was fine – even great, at times. She had buried her sadness and disappointment to get through each day. But, now that she had him back, it was like she was waking up from a strange dream. And the reality was that she had been kidding herself to think that she could live life and raise their child without him.

In her mind it was kind of pathetic in a way. Or at least it would be, if he didn't feel exactly the same way that she did. They needed each other and as long as they could both be honest about that, everything would work itself out. Starting with tonight.

Hunter breathed her in deeply, reveling in the moment. He was well on his way to getting her back for good. He had to thank the powers-that-be, Shane and Shawn for the fact that he hadn't messed up so badly that he had ruined any chance he had with her. While he wished that he had done some things differently, he stopped himself from feeling total regret. As long as things turned out great between them in the end, it would be worth it. He would dedicate the rest of his life to taking care of her and their child, while making sure both of them were happy.

He wanted to kiss her, but he would settle for this for now. After all, hugging on a first date was perfectly fine and acceptable. He was stumped as to whether or not Stephanie would be okay with kissing him. Rarely, did their kisses stay innocent if they were left all alone and in private. He wanted to respect her wishes for temporary abstinence. So, he would let her make all the moves, if any.

And holding her this closely surely wasn't helping him live up to his word. With each second, it was becoming harder to pretend that her chest wasn't directly pressed up against his or that her hands felt extremely good clutching his upper back. He squeezed her once before releasing her and taking a step back. He cleared his throat and asked, "Ready to go?"

Her response was a nod and a smile that grew bigger when he looped his arm through hers. He left her on the porch while she locked the door and set the alarm she'd had installed just days prior. When she was finished, she couldn't help but feel a little giddy to turn around and see Hunter standing by the passenger side of the car, holding the door open for her. He wiggled his eyebrows and gestured towards the seat while she approached. When she was inside, he closed the door, and jogged around to the driver side. He climbed in and tried to suppress his smile while he started the engine and drove off.

An hour and a half later, Stephanie stifled a yawn, while Hunter laughed at her and said, "Gee, I didn't know I was that boring."

She gazed at him apologetically and shrugged casually. "I'm stuffed and it's making me sleepy."

"I know, I'm just messing with you."

A pretend-wounded expression crossed her features. "I'm pregnant and sensitive."

Hunter laughed loudly. "Right, Steph."

She smirked at him and asked, "So what's next?"

"Hmm, what to do? What to do?" He muttered, rubbing his thin beard as if he were in contemplation. "A walk along the beach was what I was thinking, so we could talk. But, if your sleepiness means I'm going to end up carrying you the whole way, I can pick something sedentary."

She reached across the table to swat at him playfully. "Oh, shut up. The walk and the breeze might actually help wake me up."

He bobbed his head and said, "We'll see," in a singsong voice.

Dinner had gone very well. Hunter had picked out a really nice, beachfront, Italian restaurant. It was a relatively warm night, so they had opted to sit on the patio, to be even closer to the water. Somehow, they had managed to snag a table at the farthest edge and they were able to peer down at the ocean. It was absolutely gorgeous, especially with the moonlight and the stars illuminating the water as the waves crashed against the side of the patio gently. It was romantic and their table allowed them some privacy.

They had discussed their favorite childhood memories. Stephanie would have asked what his worst one was, but she didn't want to dwell on the negative. Especially not since much of his childhood had been filled with pain and distress. She would do her best to make sure that his adult life was the polar opposite of that. As long as he trusted her, she had no doubt that she would be successful at her new mission.

When they reached the car, Hunter reached into the backseat and pulled out two pairs of flip flops. Stephanie grabbed the smaller pair, that was clearly meant for her and pointed them at him in an accusatory way. "You planned this."

He sat down on the leather seat and pulled off his shoes, rolling his jeans up. "Why yes. Yes I did," he admitted before blowing a kiss at her.

Stephanie just smiled and shook her head while he finished changing shoes. When he was done, he got up so that she could do the same. Hunter chose not to look at her. Instead he directed his gaze at the top of the car. His elevated position and the fact that Stephanie was slightly hunched over, pretty much allowed him to see directly down her shirt. It would just be rude to take advantage of that opportunity. Or, at least, that's what he was trying to tell himself, to hold his resolve to not look.

In fact, he was so determined not to look down that he failed to notice that Stephanie had finished changing shoes and had stood up next to him.

Curiously, she watched him chew his lip anxiously, while his gaze burned a hole into the top of the car. "What cha' staring at?" She asked, glancing at the top of the car, then back to his face.

Hunter tore his gaze away and looked down at her, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry. I was desperately trying not to look at you."

Her nose scrunched up, along with a flash of hurt. "Why?"

He realized the conclusion she had jumped to and quickly amended his explanation. "It's not like that. You're gorgeous, Steph." He licked his suddenly dry lips. "Too gorgeous, actually. And the angle that we were both in, would have had me looking straight down your shirt."

"Oh," she realized, her eyes going wide. "Oh," she exclaimed, peering downwards to make sure she wasn't still too exposed.

He grabbed the hand that had self-consciously began to adjust her shirt. "Stop it," he chided, pulling her towards the beach.

When they reached the end of the walkway after a few minutes of comfortable silence, he released her hand so that they could pull their flip flops off. Deciding that it was highly unlikely someone would steal them, they stashed them under a nearby bench and walked out into the sand.

"You know, it means a lot that you were trying so hard not to ogle me," she admitted, looking up at him.

Hunter nodded. "It's not without difficulty, believe me," he said, seriously. He nudged her in the side, "Be nice if I had help. You have the nerve to be all sexy looking tonight and then you were undressing me with your eyes when I picked you up."

Stephanie laughed. "I'm sorry, Hunter. But, it's been three months," she shrugged. "Even if our baby wasn't throwing my hormones out of whack, I would still be sexually frustrated."

"I'm sure you would," he readily agreed. The bedroom had never been a problem of theirs and it probably never would be. Perfect and amazing were the two words that came to mind when he thought of his sex life with Stephanie. Against his own will, his mind insisted on reminding him of some of those moments. He wore a lopsided grin as he and Stephanie continued along the shore hand in hand.

Stephanie's thoughts had been in the gutter, long before the accidental peep show at the car. She was very focused on their date, but every time Hunter moved, it stirred up some random desire within her. She had found herself staring at his neck while he gulped down his water. She had watched his hands and imagined them touching her skillfully while he twirled pasta around his fork. When he had teased her and poked his tongue out at her, she had imagined all the places that it could be put to better use. Any time he walked ahead of her, her eyes were glued to his back and his ass. It was pitiful that he was turning her on without even trying. Did she not have any semblance of self-control? Surely, it had to mean something that she hadn't seduced him in the bathroom or in the backseat of his car.

And it certainly wasn't going to help knowing that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. Or that this beach was totally deserted. God help her.

She looked up at him, noticing the silly grin he had on his face. She felt a little better knowing that she wasn't the only one having these thoughts.

After about half a mile, Stephanie stopped suddenly. Hunter turned to her, confusion etched onto his face. "You okay?" He asked.

She shook her head no and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. "I won't be, until I kiss you at least once tonight."

Hunter wasted no time capturing her lips with his. Their mouths moved together unhurriedly and they broke apart after a few seconds, before things got too heated. "I thought you'd never ask," he admitted with a pout.

Stephanie leaned up and pecked his lips once more. "Honestly, I was waiting for you to do that. But, then I realized it was my idea that we cool it on the physical stuff."

He nodded his head eagerly. "Remember that, when you get all hot and bothered and I pull away from you," he laughed, turning and heading back towards the car.

She jogged slightly and caught up to him. "It could go the other way," she protested.

"You're absolutely right. But, I'm more determined to abide by your rules than you are," he pointed out with a crooked smile, before leaning down to kiss her pouting lips briefly.

Stephanie grumbled unintelligibly, allowing him to lead her back to the car. He was right. And she wondered why the hell she had come up with the idea to abstain from sex for a while. She didn't even have a time frame. The idea was that when they both felt like things were back on track, the restriction would be lifted. But, given how well their first session of therapy and this first date had gone – things were fine. Things might possibly be better than ever, even.

But, she'd give it a little more time. She might just be projecting and thinking things were better than they really were, because she was desperate to be a real married couple again.

She smirked to herself slyly and thought, _besides, I can't let him think I'm easy by giving up the goods on the first date. _


	12. Breakthrough

So, I thought of an interesting angle for this chapter. It jumps forward a bit, like I said it would...but instead of a date, this chapter focuses on the therapy sessions! It's not all evil, but not fluff, either. Hope you all enjoy it and feel inclined to review LOL.

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"All things considered, our relationship is going great," Hunter told their therapist with an excited voice, but a reluctant smile. He was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince her.

Dr. Natalie Hargrove wasn't fooled. She nodded her head, making her wavy, jet-black hair move across her shoulders and chest. Her piercing gray eyes slightly narrowed at Hunter but the left side of her mouth turned up in a smile, revealing her one dimple. "Have they really?" She asked.

Hunter and Stephanie had been coming to her for nearly a month now. She saw Hunter three times a week. The primary reason for that was because he had a lot of free time in his schedule, since he was taking some time off from work and had the most issues to work out. The other reason was that they had insisted on a somewhat more intensive program, since they were expecting a child. Given those circumstances and their dedication to making things better, she had agreed to their ideas.

During the first session of the week he would come in and consult with her by himself. The main focus was helping him battle the demons of his upbringing and the effects they'd had on him as an adult. During the second session she would see him for half an hour and then see Stephanie for the other half. The split session was more for tackling the issues that arose in the marriage and was set up so that Stephanie's concerns and issues were taken into account as well. During the third session, she counseled them as a couple. It allowed her to give them feedback, tips and activities that would help their relationship.

Dr. Hargrove watched Hunter carefully as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The biggest hurdle for him was being open about his feelings. It was always a task to get him to drop his guard and be completely honest. In the case of his marriage, he seemed to think that he was somehow betraying his wife by being candid about the way things were going. "This is a safe space, Hunter," she reminded him, in encouragement. "Everything you two reveal individually and separately can only help you in the end."

"I know," he admitted. "I just feel like, I don't know." He rubbed his hand over his face wearily. "Like I don't have a right to feel the way I am now."

Though she could easily infer what he was feeling, from prior sessions, it was pointless if he couldn't say it out loud. He needed to be the one to verbalize his thoughts. She was only here to suggest and to guide – not to tell him exactly how he felt. "What way would that be?"

"Impatient?" He suggested, with a shrug. "Restless? Anxious?" He chewed on his bottom lip before he admitted quietly. "A little hopeless."

Natalie scribbled on her legal pad as he spoke, her eyes never leaving his face. It was as important to jot down what he did say, as it was to pick up on the clues his body language gave. "Why is that?" She prodded.

"I feel like Steph won't really let me in. Like, she's got one foot out of the door and is just waiting for me to mess up. And when I do she'll be prepared to just slam the door in my face."

Dr. Hargrove scribbled quickly and tried to suppress her smile. For one thing, her intuition was never off. The second thing was that Hunter had opened up more than she had expected him to. This was definite progress. "Go on," she instructed.

"I feel like she's not really giving our marriage another shot. I mean, right now we only have a marriage legally. We're...we're dating," he shook his head and sighed again.

"I understand your feelings, Hunter. And it may seem that way. But, you have to realize that she was the one who got hurt the most in your relationship. It's natural for her to be a little cautious while you try to work out the issues from your past."

Hunter nodded. He got that and it wasn't totally the problem. He decided to finally voice his concerns out loud. "But will that ever stop?" He asked, seriously. "Will she ever stop being cautious? And what if she thinks I'll never get over my past? Does that mean she'll never be ready to be a real married couple?"

The doctor sighed and took off her glasses. "No one can say for sure. You just have to keep showing her that you're committed to confronting your issues and to repairing the relationship. You're currently working on learning to trust her," she offered.

Again, Hunter nodded.

"She has to do the same. She has to learn to trust and believe that you won't hurt her that way again. You've both got some problems to work through. That's what we're doing here and that's why the program is designed as it is."

"So I should be patient?"

In contemplation, Dr. Hargrove briefly bit her lip. "Yes and no. Both of your needs have to be met somehow. But, you can't force her to be ready. Nor should you let your own feelings fester to the point where you resent her or give up trying."

He extended his long legs in a stretch before standing up. Their thirty minutes had come and gone and now it was Stephanie's turn. He thanked Natalie and confirmed their appointment for Friday, before heading out. He pulled out his debit card and handed it over to the secretary perched outside, to pay for the appointment. The machine buzzed efficiently while it spat out a receipt. He poked his tongue out of the side of his mouth, while he scribbled his name, before handing it over to the barely-twenties, blonde-haired girl that was manning the desk.

With a heavy sigh he pushed open the door to the waiting area. A smile lit up his face as he saw Stephanie perched in one of the plush, comfortable chairs, concentrating on a baby names book. "We could keep it simple, you know," he told her as he walked over. She smiled and stood up to greet him. "Just call it 'kid' or 'child' or something."

"Hunter," she chastised, smacking him lightly on the bicep with her purse. "We are not calling our baby that."

He lifted his hands in his defense. "Okay that's not unique enough. What about 'boy' or 'girl' depending on the gender of the baby?"

She laughed and shook her head. He was a mess. She leaned up and pecked him on the lips. "Get out of here," she commanded, smirking at his retreating form.

Stephanie greeted the secretary, allowing the younger woman to lead her to the doctor's office.

"Hello, Stephanie," the pretty therapist greeted.

"How are you, Dr. Hargrove?"

The older woman waved her hands in disapproval. "Call me Natalie."

A blush stained Stephanie's cheeks, She kept forgetting that. It was just that with the other therapists they had tried and rejected, the setting of the meetings was so formal. Dr. Hargrove kept things lighter and more conversational. Like you were talking to your best friend who just happened to have a counseling license.

The women exchanged their pleasantries as Stephanie took a seat on the couch, before giving a summary of what had been going on for the past few days. Natalie listened intently, though she had already heard a version – Hunter's version – just a few minutes prior. It was always interesting to hear the same story from a different perspective. It was also very helpful to see how each of them interpreted what had occurred. This allowed her to form a clearer picture of the events and figure out how to guide them, when they arrived for their couples session.

She peeked up at Stephanie from above the rim of her glasses. "And why are you so sure that that's the best way to approach things?" She quizzed the brunette.

Stephanie drew her eyebrows together in confusion. She shrugged and suddenly lost her reasoning for moving at a snail's pace with Hunter. Natalie had asked a damn good question. Her husband hadn't asked her why, he had just gone along with it. At the time she had made the suggestion, he probably would have gone along with anything. That was how she got him to therapy in the first place. God knows he wouldn't have started on his own. She began, unsurely, "We were apart for three months. And with everything that came out, it seemed right to...to." She trailed off and rubbed her forehead. What the hell _was _she doing? What was she having them do?

"Start from the very beginning?"

A loud snap was heard when Stephanie moved her fingers together to create the noise. "That's it!" She exclaimed, happy that someone got her method of thinking. The fact that it was someone who specialized in problems like theirs made it even better.

Natalie laughed at the younger, pregnant woman's enthusiasm. "I understand why that may have seemed like the logical thing to do, Stephanie."

The smile left her face as she lifted her eyebrow to ask, "But?"

"Relationships need to move forward to survive. What you two are doing is regressing. "

Defiantly, Stephanie shook her head. "But there's so much we didn't know about each other. We still have so much to work on. And we were separated. We can't just go back to the way we were before that happened," she insisted.

Both of Natalie's eyebrows lifted, challenging Stephanie. "It will take work to build that level of intimacy again, yes. But why can't you start doing that now?" When Stephanie sat in stunned, silent confusion, she decided to continue. She clasped her petite hands together and leaned forward a bit. "You've gone back to dating, Stephanie. You date someone that you don't know very well. It's a trial relationship. You want to see how someone would fit as a life partner. It's an unsure time; you're testing the waters, but haven't jumped in the deep end yet."

"I don't know how to do that," she admitted quietly. "Not anymore."

"Then you need to be able to admit to yourself and to Hunter that this trial period is for you. It isn't for you two as a couple."

Stephanie's eyes went wide and her mouth parted. "It isn't?" Christ, that made her sound selfish. Was she selfish? Was she actually hurting their relationship by doing what she thought was best to help it?

Natalie gave her a knowing smile, sensing where her thoughts had taken her. For the next few minutes, she reminded Stephanie of the numerous dates she and Hunter had gone on, how well their therapy sessions had been coming along and how he had basically done everything perfectly. "Tell me, exactly why you think it's a good idea to live apart from your husband and abstain from the physical aspects of your relationship."

Stephanie refused to give in so easily. She had clung, desperately to the hope that what she was having them do was a good idea. Every time she ached to be near him or touch him she had to remind herself that they were only dating right now. She couldn't lose sight of the notion that this would help them. She had to put her desires and her longing aside and tough it out for the good of their marriage. They couldn't be together until everything was sorted. "We're working on things," Stephanie nodded, to reassure herself. "We haven't fixed it. Not yet. We might fail. I'll have to pick up the pieces all over again," she rambled while she recalled the months she spent apart from Hunter. "It was so hard the last time. It took me so long to get to a good – no, a decent place. It's absurd to throw that all away and-and possibly have to do it all over again! It's too risky, it's-"

Stephanie stopped and looked up to see Natalie smiling at her sympathetically. "Oh, God," she groaned and flopped to lie down on the couch. "I'm scared to merge my life with his again," she realized, slapping a hand over her eyes.

Natalie leaned back in her office chair. "In psychology, we call that a breakthrough," she encouraged, passing the box of tissues to the whimpering brunette before her.

Now, they were really getting somewhere.


	13. Building a Collection

Hmm, guess I'm on a writing streak! LOL. This chapter addresses many different elements (after reading this one, I'm sure some of you will be tempted to go re-read ch. 11 to see the subtle thought Steph had when she was placing the rose Hunter gave her in water). So in this chapter, the flower becomes a bit more significant...something that I originally hadn't planned to do until the final chapter. But, hopefully this way serves to keep things more interesting! This chapter takes place the day after ch. 12, btw. I decided to resume putting the months, so that nobody (mostly me, LOL) gets lost on the time frame in terms of how far along Steph is. Initially, I was going to put their lunch conversation in this one, but that was doing too much in one chapter, so I'll save a date scene for the next chapter! I plan for fluff, with a hint of evil :-D

* * *

Stamford, Connecticut, End of June 2002

The elevator dinged, alerting Hunter that he had reached the 22nd floor. He walked off and turned down the hallway. He waved in recognition of all the employees as he passed their cubicles. Finally, he stopped in front of Stephanie's secretary's desk. "Hey Lauren."

The red-haired, green-eyed woman smiled and returned the greeting. "Hey, Hunter."

In the last month, he had somewhat become a fixture around the office. It wasn't at all unusual for him to hand-deliver flowers or lunch to Stephanie randomly. When she had the time, he would even whisk her off for an unexpected lunch outing. Lauren couldn't be happier for her boss. Stephanie was very sweet, understanding and fair. If she was having a bad day, she kept to herself rather than biting everyone's head off. If someone needed to leave a little bit early, it wasn't an issue as long as they got their work done before the deadline. She delegated the work well, making sure that no one was overburdened. She understood that everyone needed their personal time to stay just that and never rang anyone at home. Likewise, she wanted her free time all to herself.

Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley was quite possibly the most well-liked person in the entire department. Possibly even at the corporate headquarters in general. The secretaries had somewhat of a bond, but she couldn't at all sympathize with the complaints that the others had about their department heads.

As friendly, sincere and generous as Stephanie was, it always made Lauren a little bit sad when she would catch a faraway look in her eyes. Like she was wishing or wanting something that she could never have. She wasn't living under a rock. She paid attention to what her company produced for the world to see, so she was well aware of the breakup that had occurred due to the pregnancy fiasco. It wasn't until Stephanie actually started showing outward signs of her pregnancy that understood the woman hadn't actually faked it. She put two and two together and realized what Stephanie longed for: the restoration of her family.

Though she was technically still married, she had insisted that they never use her estranged husband's surname. Everyone had tried to comply, but were so used to seeing her on television using "Helmsley" that people slipped up. Stephanie didn't get mad, though. Nearly every time that happened, the sad look would be there for the briefest moment before vanishing and being replaced by indifference while she corrected them.

All in all, she was just glad that Stephanie and Hunter were working things out and hoped that she'd never have the defeated look mar her features again. She was too good of a person to feel that way. It seemed that their relationship was back on track, given that her husband was here so often that everyone knew and was on a first name basis with him. In a way, she and Hunter were in cahoots. He would call to make sure Stephanie was going to be around and wouldn't have a business meeting at lunch and Lauren would provide the information. Sometimes, she'd talk her boss out of any last minute plans she was considering, if she knew Hunter was on his way.

Hunter jerked his head in the direction of Stephanie's office, with his eyebrow raised in question.

Lauren peeked down at the phone, noting that none of the lights were lit up. "She just got off a conference call. You can go right in."

Hunter grinned and walked past the proverbial gatekeeper and stopped in front of Stephanie's door. It was slightly ajar, so he lifted his big hand and pushed it open all the way. "Knock knock," he greeted, cautiously poking his head in.

A smile lit up her face and she walked over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Hey. I wasn't expecting to see you until tonight."

His shoulder lifted in a shrug. "Seeing you at the doc's office yesterday was a tease. It made me impatient," he admitted.

Stephanie shook her head and retorted sarcastically. "I never knew you even had a patient bone in your body."

She was making a joke and he knew that. It was evident in the way the left side of her mouth curved up gently and the twinkle in her eyes. But, it still took a considerable amount of effort for him not to get serious. He could easily point out that he was being patient by simply dating her. Essentially, he had to stifle his feelings and his instincts and behave as if he wasn't already in love with her. It was becoming quite maddening and he just wanted their life back already. He pulled back and turned to the side, bumping her with his hip. "Whatever, Steph. I've come to take you to lunch."

Reaching one of his long arms behind him, he yanked the stem of the rose from his back pocket. He brought the flower between them and twirled it in his fingers. "Interested?" he quizzed, tilting his head to the side, sending her a sly smile.

"Very," she confirmed, taking the rose from him with one hand and using her other to rub her stomach. "We're starving."

His expression softened and he placed his hand on her swollen belly, tracing random circles with his thumb. "Well let's hurry up and get out of here; I can't let my two favorite people just waste away."

Stephanie grabbed the hand that was on her stomach and intertwined her fingers with his. She toyed with his wedding ring absently as she stared at him intently. It turned out that he had sent a member of the ring crew out to get it for him the night that he threw it at her. She was touched that even though he thought her to be lying, he had held on to the ring and eventually talked to her brother to seek her out.

In her heart, she knew that she should open up about her fears so that he would understand what the hell was going on with her. But, a part of her was scared to even do that. Saying it out loud to him, made it real. She didn't have to really deal with the issue if she kept quiet about it. With any luck, she could sort it out through her sessions with Dr. Hargrove and Hunter would never have to know about it.

Somehow, she just couldn't see herself having a conversation with Hunter that affirmed that she essentially didn't trust him not to screw up their relationship again...to break her heart again. That admission might very well break his. Until she could figure out a way to sugar coat her innermost feelings or get over her problems altogether, she'd keep it to herself and their therapist.

A sigh escaped and she broke their eye contact and released his hand. "I'll put this in water," she announced, turning her back to his confused gaze. She walked back over to her desk and dropped the red rose into the vase.

Her hand reached out to grab her purse and she turned back to her husband and began to walk back to him. He smiled at her and gestured towards the desk. "That's kept very well," he commented.

Brow furrowed, she turned around to see what he was talking about. "The flower?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, gesturing more directly this time. "Normally you can't keep a flower alive more than a couple of days. That one's lasted almost a whole week," he marveled. "You're learning," he said proudly, brushing a hand down her arm.

Stephanie was starting to feel nauseous. She licked her suddenly dry lips and turned to her elated husband. She shook her head, in a desperate attempt at denying what this meant. "That arrived yesterday," she corrected him.

His nose wrinkled as he considered. "Arrived? Like delivered?"

She nodded her head and tried to tell herself that he looked so confused possibly because he hadn't intended the flower to get to her on that particular day.

"Steph, every flower I've given you I've done so in person."

"What?" She asked softly, feeling the color drain from her face slowly.

Hunter shrugged, not seeing what the big deal was. "Yeah. I mean I have a lot of free time. And I always figured you'd enjoy getting it directly from me than from some delivery guy," he continued to ramble, not noticing that Stephanie had grabbed the door handle to steady herself. "So whenever I know I'm going to see you, I just go buy a rose from the flower shop and give it to you. If you could keep the damn things alive you probably would have a collection at your place and at the office," he teased, snickering.

"Steph?" He asked, when she didn't respond. He whirled around to see her leaning on the door. He reached his arm out to her waist. "What's wrong? Is it the baby?" He panicked, touching her stomach.

"I'm going to be sick," she announced, pushing his arm away. She bolted from her office, in search of the bathroom.

Slowly, Hunter emerged from the office after her.

"That happens a lot," Lauren piped in sympathetically.

"I know," he agreed, watching his wife jog past the cubicles and into the hallway.

He was well aware that "morning sickness" was not an accurate description for the havoc their baby caused for her stomach. It came far too randomly for that and he'd had the pleasure of holding her hair back for her as she heaved into some toilet or trashcan on one of their dates or late-night craving adventures.

Inside the bathroom Stephanie pressed a hand to her stomach, in an attempt to make it settle down. The urge to throw up had come and gone after she had done exactly that. But, she still felt off. The truth was that after she and Hunter had reconciled, a flower had shown up on her doorstep in the days immediately following that. Afterwards, a solitary flower would show up for her at her office.

Her husband presented her with a flower every time he saw her – which was three or four times a week. Naturally, she assumed that he had been the one leaving flowers on her doorstep...he knew where she lived and not many people did. Those random flowers clearly hadn't been left by a delivery service. The flowers to her office were a different story. Those had actually been brought to her by a professional and had required a signature to confirm they had been received.

But, Hunter hadn't been behind it. And that was terrifying because it meant that whoever had begun this had started by personally leaving a single red rose on her doorstep, daily. And judging by the fact that as soon as the doorstep roses ceased, the office roses started, it was probable that that same person knew where she worked.

No message had been attached to any of the cards, so she was at a loss as to why the mystery person was doing this. She highly doubted that Kurt Angle was behind this. Ever since Shane had gone to the arena and busted him up, she hadn't heard a peep from him. He hadn't called her or shown up at her job anymore. And to her knowledge, he had no idea where she lived. After finding out what the secretary knew about his pursuit of her, her father had fired the traitorous leech, so there was no way for him to gain that information now.

And even if he did manage to score her address before that happened, her brother and father had people watching him. There was no way in hell that he could just wander onto her very doorstep without them knowing. It didn't make any logical sense and there was no way he could have gotten away with it several times in a row.

She cleaned herself up and sighed at her reflection in the mirror. Earlier, she'd been bright, vibrant and in a great mood. Now, she just looked like a mess. It was impossible to pin her appearance, but she knew that she felt anxious, worried and somewhat sad. All she wanted to do was focus on her husband, her marriage and her child. It wasn't a lot to ask for.

A new determination filled her and she pressed her lips into a tight line. No one had come after her or left a memo, so most likely it was some harmless admirer. Whatever the case was and whoever was doing this could kiss her ass. She wasn't about to let anything distract her from the goal of fixing her relationship. The last thing she and Hunter needed was an additional problem or source of stress.

She exited the bathroom and started walking down the hallway. Hunter was leaning against a wall, his legs crossed at his ankles. His hands were stuffed into his front pockets. He heard her footsteps and turned his head while he pushed himself up from the wall.

"You okay?"

Stephanie gave him a genuine smile. Stupid flowers showing up anonymously wasn't an immediate cause for concern. And if it became one, she would deal with it then. "I'm good; let's go grab lunch," she clutched his hand in hers and started to walk. "Now I'm even more hungry after losing what little food was in my system."

Their laughter echoed down the corridor and Stephanie tried to ignore the somersaults her stomach did when a man stepped off the elevator carrying a single red rose. Hunter was too caught up in her to notice what just crossed their paths. By the looks of things, her sudden sickness had caused him to totally and completely miss the implications of the conversation they'd just had. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing; it would save her from having to dance around the truth – something she had never been particularly good at. He stepped onto the elevator, pulling her with him. The doors slid shut after he pressed the button for the lobby floor.

Despite trying to reassure herself that there was nothing to worry about, she felt the sudden need to be close to him. She wrapped an arm around his waist and stepped closer to him. Hunter pulled her closer and pressed a kiss into her hair, happy that she seemed to be opening up to him a little more. Her hormones getting the better of her, she turned and buried her face into his neck, mentally willing this potential new issue to go away.


	14. Ascent part 1

Big thanks to triplehhholic for reviewing the last chapter! Yes, the irony of the mystery person doing the exact same gesture as Hunter. The poor guy just wants his family back. LOL.

Well, I'll be propped up nursing my knee til my referral to an orthopedist goes through, to see what my knee-wall collision while rollerblading a few days ago did to it. Sadness for my mobility. But, good for fic writing since I've nothing better to do hehe

I've gotten inspired for this fic, in a way I hadn't originally planned, but I'm enjoying the ride, you could say. This particular chapter took on a life of its own and I decided to split it into two parts because it was around like 4600 words. It's already written, just waiting for the occasionally elusive reviews, so that it can be unlocked from MW word. Enjoy! :-)

Note: this is the same day as in ch. 13

* * *

Hunter stood behind Stephanie's chair, waiting until she settled in before pushing it forward slightly.

The waitress, Ana, tucked a stray wisp of brown hair behind her ear and smiled down at Stephanie. "How far along are you?"

"28 weeks," Stephanie beamed up at her. She muffled a groan as she felt a swift kick. "The baby says hello, I think," she laughed.

Ana chuckled and waved at Stephanie's stomach, while Hunter took his seat. "What can I get you to drink?"

"We'll take two waters and one orange juice," Hunter answered, shooting Stephanie a knowing smile.

When they were alone she asked, "So how's your day been?"

Hunter shrugged. "Uneventful. I slept in pretty late. But, I managed a decent workout before I came to see you. So, I'd say things are picking up."

God, she was starting to feel guilty. Wrestling was Hunter's passion and he was taking an indefinite amount of time off, trying to fix what had been broken between them. All he had to do to occupy his time now was work out and train to keep his skills sharp. Other than that, he was mostly sitting around researching restaurants to try and places to take her. She wondered how he wasn't going absolutely stir crazy from boredom, since they only saw each other a few times a week for a few hours at a time. And to top it off, their relationship wasn't full. It was a watered down version of what it had once been.

But, what was she supposed to do? Hunter had chosen to do this _and _it was mostly his fault they were in this predicament in the first place.

"That's good," she commented halfheartedly. She hadn't a clue what else she was supposed to say.

Hunter caught her lack of enthusiasm and chuckled lowly, raising his menu so that it obscured his face.

She smiled and asked, "What?" If he found something funny, she wanted to know about it, so she could laugh too.

He lowered the menu a fraction, shook his head and replied, "Nothing."

"No, tell me," she insisted.

Hunter sighed and laid his menu down on the table. "You find my day boring and you're starting to feel sorry for me," he said, point blank.

"I-I" she stammered, wondering how the hell she was meant to respond to that. She took a moment to clear her throat before trying again. "Ba," she started before correcting herself. They weren't using pet names just yet. "Hunter. it's not like that."

He chuckled again. "Look at this, Stephanie. You can't even so much as call me 'baby' without tripping over the word. I know that I'm to blame for the way things are. So, don't feel sorry that I don't have more things to fill out my day. I'm determined to mend things between us and until I've done that I can't get caught up in the chaos and traveling of the business."

Stephanie nodded her understanding, but she still felt bad. "I know. But, I can't help but feel responsible that it's taking so long for you to get back in the ring. That it's taking so long for things to be right with us again."

Before Hunter could respond, Ana returned with their drinks and took their food order. Left on their own again, Hunter considered carefully before continuing their conversation. "You're holding back, Steph. And it's mostly my fault that you're scared to let go."

She let out an indignant snort and scrunched her nose up in insult. So what if her husband was right? She had yet to admit that to him and he shouldn't be so presumptuous. "Who said I was scared?"

He smiled at her gently. She was so cute when she was offended or mad. "You're not as inconspicuous as you'd like to think sometimes. Not to me, anyway."

Stephanie didn't say anything, she simply leaned back and sipped at her orange juice while she pouted. Was she really _that _damn transparent? She didn't bother to counter his comment. There was no point for her to stubbornly stand behind, seeing as Hunter was completely correct. For the most part. It was clear that he didn't know just how deep her fear went exactly. If he did, there was absolutely no way that she could see him carrying on meaningless, lighthearted chatter with her after their food had arrived.

Inside the car, Hunter was telling her about his sudden interest in football. Apparently, he now thought it to be something like wrestling because it was strategic. You isolated your opponent's weakness and then exploited it systematically. To an extent, he felt like the same could be done in basketball games, but those moved at a much faster pace than football did. If he hadn't gone on about it in such detail, she would have sworn she was hearing things. Hunter had never been interested in any sport other than wrestling – not even as a kid. He felt that the fact they had no off-season made their sport incomparable to any other. Clearly, his lack of daily activity was changing that perception, since he now had the time to give other things a real chance.

"Sometimes when I watch, I see a lot of wrestling moves being used. Mostly, the spear and the clothesline," he grinned over at her while he swiftly pulled into a vacant parking space.

He put the car into park and switched off the engine.

"Well, this is new," was her comment while she laughed at his enthusiasm. She had the feeling he would eventually plan on taking her along to a game. Not that she minded. She didn't dislike football, but since she grew up in the wrestling business, it had been her preferential sport. Her views had been much like her husband's. Odds were that if he was able to enjoy it, she would be able to as well. Even if she didn't, she would enjoy simply being with him. They'd had enough separation to last a lifetime, in her opinion.

She relaxed in her seat while Hunter got out of the car and made his way over to her side. He pulled open her door and extended his hand to help her get to her feet. "A lot has changed," he admitted, reaching around her waist to close the door. He lightly touched the small of her back, leading her towards the large building she worked out of. He nodded in the direction of his cherry red Mercedes. "I got rid of the Hummer," he reminded her.

Stephanie smiled and lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "That car was a death trap."

He laughed. "As you've always said. I just decided to take your worry more seriously, since we're expecting and all. It wouldn't be fair for Mommy to have to drive everywhere just because she was convinced Daddy's car would kill everyone," he joked.

She nodded and returned the laugh.

As soon as she had informed him she was pregnant he had wasted no time getting rid of the Hummer, for a safer vehicle. It was amazing that he had managed to accomplish that from the other side of the country. Somehow, she knew that Shawn or Kevin had something to do with how he managed to get rid of his old car and have a new one parked in their driveway without physically being present to do so. He'd told her about what he had done for her, just a couple of days after she told him they were going to be parents. But, because of their intense traveling schedule, she wasn't actually able to see the new car for herself. Not until he had broken her heart and she had immediately returned to their home to collect her belongings.

Tears pricked the back of her eyes at the memory, but she blinked them back. It had been almost five months since that happened, but the wounds hadn't gone away completely. Occasionally, the pain felt just as fresh as it did when the incidents originally occurred.

"Some things stay the same, though," she countered, to distract herself from the struggle to keep a lid on her emotions. "For instance, you still picked cherry red."

"That I did," he admitted. "I like to think of it as a tribute to the truck I abandoned. Old Bessie," he chuckled, pushing open the door to the lobby.

Feeling her hurt vanish entirely for a moment, she laughed loudly. _Old Bessie, _she thought, completely entertained. She knew good and damn well Hunter never actually named any vehicle he had owned. He thought the idea was ridiculous and didn't understand why people did it. But, still, the idea of him calling such a modern SUV by such an old-school name was hilarious.

She stood by the elevator door, while he walked over to press the button to call it down.

"Another thing that hasn't changed is that I love you," he threw in casually, before glancing in her direction. "Well it's changed a little bit," he amended. "I love you more than ever and I had no idea that was even possible."

Her earlier amusement had been replaced by a stoicism, it seemed. Her jaw was tightened and her gaze was fixed straight ahead. It almost looked like she was trying to mentally force the elevator to arrive. Like she needed rescuing or something. He couldn't be entirely sure, because she refused to even turn her head in his direction. But, he did catch that every couple of seconds she used her peripheral vision to accomplish the goal of looking at him.

The elevator dinged, signaling its arrival on their floor. He stepped on first, pressing the elevator for her floor, before tugging on her hand to pull her over to him. Despite the fact that she was only about two inches from being pressed directly against him, her head was bowed as she stared at the floor. Thankfully, the elevator was totally empty and he could talk to her, without her getting clammed up for fear that they didn't have privacy.

"I feel like I make one step of progress with you, only to be knocked two steps back."

Her gaze remained fixed to the floor. "What are you talking about?" She asked. Her voice was the epitome of calm. And for anybody else, this might have been an okay signal. But, for Stephanie, it was another story. He placed his index finger under her chin and lifted her head.

Stubbornly, she looked up at the ceiling instead of at him, but she couldn't hide it. Her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly and her eyes were watery.

"That night that we talked," he began. "You know, about a month and a half ago. You admitted that you loved me that night. You haven't said it to me since then, Steph. One minute you seem to be dropping this wall you've put up and without warning it's back up again. If I'm doing something wrong or not giving you what you need from me, please tell me. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. You know, not knowing if I'm making progress here."

Finally, her eyes locked on his. But, apparently, he'd spoken out of turn, because there was no mistaking the flash of anger. As if that wasn't enough to let him know he had pissed her off, she shook his hand off and took a step back. "You don't know how much more _you _can take?" She asked incredulously. "What about me, Hunter? You want things to instantly be perfect again, but it doesn't work that way," she said fiercely. "I don't work that way. Let's get something straight. You. Fucking. Broke. My. Heart. Okay?"

Hunter chewed on his bottom lip, resolved to not interrupt her. Even if her words were cutting him and she was cursing like a sailor, this was good. They would never get anywhere if they weren't able to be completely honest with each other about their feelings. Truth be told, she had handled all of this with grace. If he didn't know her so well, he would never have had a clue that she was still very bitter and upset about what happened. Around him, she was all smiles and pleasant conversation. Though, after this particular talk he might be in the dog house, this was still better than her pretending things were mostly fine and dandy. Besides, they had a joint counseling session tomorrow anyway. Then they could get a professional opinion about whatever else it was she had to say and discuss it in a rational, mediated fashion.

"I forgive you, Hunter," was her clarification. "I forgive you for everything and I want to make this work just as much as you do. But, that doesn't erase the months we spent apart or the pain that I lived through every day while I felt hopeless and devastated that you didn't believe or trust me. I tried so hard to move on and just make myself get used to the idea that my child would grow up without its father. You didn't have to go through any of this," she pointed out. "All you did was sit around wondering why I hadn't contacted you to apologize." She scoffed and added. "You were angry at my audacity to not come crawling after you for forgiveness. You didn't spend every second of that time with a constant ache in your chest that you had to ignore to get from one moment to the next. So, you'll just have to damn well be patient with me."

"I was hurting too, Stephanie!" He exclaimed, running both of his hands over his ponytail in frustration, making some strands fall out unknowingly. During his entire month and a half long attempt to square things away with her, he'd been calm and gentle with her. After the hell he put her though, it was the least he could do. He had mostly ignored what he himself had gone through without her in his life. "I didn't tell you that because I felt like after what I did to you I didn't deserve to feel pain now...or to have felt any during that time. But, I did," he admitted. "I was sad that you'd lied to me about having our baby, I was sad that you'd readily apologized over lesser offenses but refused to talk to me about this. I was sad that you dropped off the face of the goddamn planet and took all of your stuff with you. I was sad _and _furious that when I finally found you, you were with Kurt Angle. And now I get to be sad and pissed off at the fact that I had no right to feel any of those things and that I've damaged you so badly that you'll never love me as much as you used to."

Completely and totally overwhelmed by finally unchaining his emotions, he backed away from her and pressed his back against the elevator wall. His throat was dry and burning and he was pretty sure the few beads wetness that dripped to the floor wasn't from a leak in the roof. Not when he could feel it originating from his own eyes.


	15. Ascent part 2

Stephanie stood across from Hunter in total shock. She knew that her husband felt really badly over the state of their relationship but she had no idea he was capable of shedding tears over it. Nor was she aware that he had been feeling just as much pain as she had during their time apart. She rolled her lips together and furiously blinked back her own tears that she felt pricking her eyes. She turned around and pressed the button that would stop the elevator, without setting off the fire alarm. That would buy them a little bit more alone time.

Unsurely, she approached him. She cleared her throat, but her "I'm sorry," still came out more ragged than she had intended.

Hunter shook his head, dragging a hand over his face wearily. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who's sorry."

"You wouldn't be upset right now if I'd kept my hormones under control instead of biting your head off."

"You're not going to blame yourself for this," he pointed to his still misty eyes, swallowing roughly.

"But some of this _is _on me," she insisted. "We might not have spent so much time apart if I'd been strong enough to try to make you see the truth. Instead, I just took off on you."

He shrugged. They would never know if that would have made a difference and it didn't matter now. It was his own stupidity that drove her away in the first place. "You did everything exactly right, Steph. This isn't your fault."

Nervously, she wrung her hands together. "I was going to come to you eventually. I wasn't sure when and I wasn't sure how. I saw problems with every potential avenue. I thought you still wouldn't believe me or that you'd think it wasn't yours."

Hunter remained silent. He knew that she was just being open and honest and not purposely trying to make him feel worse. But, he couldn't help the pang of guilt in his chest that he had actually brought her fears to life when they finally did see each other. It was no wonder she was frightened to resume their relationship.

"But I knew that I'd hate myself forever if I let my...issues with you keep you from being a father. As a mother-to-be, I should have tried again. I just wasn't ready to handle the situation – I felt too angry and hurt. No matter which way you slice it, that's selfish."

Christ, this conversation was like a pain fest and blame game rolled into one big event. Except it wasn't a game for either of them. This was their life. A life that they used to share, before things got so incredibly screwed up.

Yes, Stephanie was probably correct in her ideas that she was too angry and hurt to try to convince him – again – that she really was carrying their child. But, she still wasn't responsible for this situation. "You were protecting yourself," was his simple way of dismissing the undue burden she seemed determined to carry. "I understand and I'm not upset with you for it. I just want you to let me make things better. I can't do that if you don't tell me when or why something I do or say is bothering you."

"Talking about the past," she started, softly. "Just random things...it's distressing sometimes." When he stared at her in silent confusion she explained. "The memory itself makes me smile. But then my mind just sort of fast-forwards to when things fell apart and I remember the misery."

"That'll get better with time," he encouraged, pushing himself off the wall to step closer to her.

She nodded. "I know. But, you're right. I've held back. I was so happy that you came back to me...I was very optimistic and thought that starting over was the solution. To get to know each other all over again. But, it isn't. We shared a life together, Hunter. And that's harder to ignore than I thought it would be. We easily fall back into our old patterns, our old banter...and then I snap out of it and remind myself that I'm pretty much supposed to be pretending like I just met you. Occasionally I get a little," she tilted her head to the side as she considered, her bottom lip jutting out in thought. "Jealous, resentful, sad...I don't know," she shrugged. "Whatever it is, I feel it, because you're so carefree about telling me how you feel about me and about your desire to move forward. And I used to be that way, too." She paused and added softly, "I miss being that way." She took a breath to steel herself before she continued. "I've realized why I clung so stubbornly to that idea – to starting over. I wanted to have a tangible excuse to keep you at a distance. And it's because I'm terrified to give you everything, only to have it thrown back in my face. Again."

"I won't do that, Steph," he assured her, gently brushing a hand down her arm. "I took the problems from my childhood out on you. I'm so, so sorry for that. But, despite that I've always been sure that I love you and want you. Only you. I told you things that I've never told anyone. You know all that there is to know about me, now. I'm giving you everything, even if it is a little late. I'm not perfect and I'm sure I'll mess up a bit along the way. But I will never even come close to leaving you again. I promise."

Stephanie looked at him, seeing the sincerity of his words and understanding the concern that he hadn't actually voiced. He needed to know that when he did mess up that little bit, that she wouldn't call it quits. But, he wasn't going to outright tell her that. She could tell that he still didn't really think that he had a say on the terms or pace of their relationship. She needed to give him some sort of sign that she was coming around. That things could eventually get back to and then be better than they were previously. She grabbed his face with both hands and pulled him down to her level. "Hunter, my feelings for you haven't diminished. I don't think that's possible because I tried for three straight months and they wouldn't go away. Not even a little bit. I love you," she reassured him. Against his lips she whispered, "We'll make this work," before fusing her mouth with his.

This particular embrace was practically a milestone. Much like her gentle words of love, she hadn't kissed him this way since their initial reconciliation. After their first date she realized that she wouldn't fully be able to control her body's urges so she had resigned them to pecks and somewhat brief, closed-mouth kisses. She didn't want to fan the flames, so to speak.

Apparently doing away with that rule entirely, she ran her tongue along his bottom lip and smiled when his mouth parted and their tongues battled for dominance. She moved her hands up and into his hair, sliding the band off so that she could tangle her fingers in the soft, curly strands while she directed her lips to his neck.

Thoroughly enjoying the moment, his massive arms encircled her waist. He pulled her to him as tightly as possible without causing harm to her or their baby. She removed one hand from his hair and slid it down to his chest, pushing until he hit the wall. She ignored the slight banging noise of the impact and raised up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the lips again.

Hunter broke their kiss and laughed. "Ouch," he complained, rubbing the back of his head. He had been totally unprepared for Stephanie's passionate assault on him but had enjoyed it nonetheless.

"Oh God," She exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand. "Baby, I'm sorry," she apologized, reaching up to rub the back of his head.

He laughed again and smoothed back his now messy hair. "I'll live," he told her, smirking. He clucked his tongue and said. "I must be doing really good. I got a non-chastity kiss, an 'I love you' and you called me 'baby' all in the span of five minutes," he grinned.

Stephanie's face reddened with her blush. "Shut up," she said, backhanding his bicep.

He cringed and leaned down to peck her pouting lips before he continued to laugh at her. "So beautiful, yet so violent." When she lifted her hand to swat at him again he swiftly moved to the side and held his hands up in defense. "In all seriousness, Steph. I'm glad that happened."

"Me too," she admitted, smiling. "It's not difficult to do or say any of that, if I don't think about it too hard."

Hunter lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "So don't. Just be with me and do what comes natural to you."

Stephanie winked at him. "If I did that, I'd probably get fired and we might soon be arrested for public nudity, indecency or something."

"Okay, so only think about it sometimes," he amended, not even bothering to hide his excitement at what she was strongly hinting at. He crossed to the panel of the elevator and allowed it to resume its ascent. Seeing as he had no desire to make Stephanie lose her job or get them both locked up, he needed to get them out of here as soon as possible. There was only so much he could take and he was absolving himself of any responsibility for what happened between now and the end of her workday, since he was taking the initiative to get them out of a confined, private space.

Lost in his thoughts of claiming total innocence, he didn't realize she had moved until she grabbed his hand and laid her head against his shoulder. He couldn't help the dopey grin that crossed his face. It was such a simple, yet meaningful maneuver from her. But, he was glad that she wanted to be close to him.

The elevator opened and they stepped off, still hand in hand. The main office was partially empty. Stephanie ran things very loosely and didn't particularly care when her employees took their lunch as long as they didn't go over their hour without giving someone a heads up.

Lauren smiled at them, placing a hand over her heart to indicate how cute she thought they looked. Stephanie blushed shyly and bit down on her lip, looking away. Hunter took the opportunity to wink at his co-conspirator and mouth his thanks.

They stopped walking when they were inside Stephanie's office and halfway to her desk.

"Think you can stay out of trouble if I leave you in here by yourself?" He teased, releasing her hand.

Stephanie grinned at him, turning her head when the sunlight glinted off of the vase on her desk, momentarily blinding her. The glare died down and she noticed that there were three roses now.

And three things registered in her mind. The first was that the delivery man they'd encountered an hour earlier was definitely here to bring her another solitary flower. The second was that Lauren must have signed for it and placed it in water for her. The third was that she needed to make sure Lauren knew that she didn't want any more of the damn things.

Whoever was doing this, needed to get the message that she wasn't flattered or amused by this unwanted attention. Having their gesture rebuffed should do the trick. She'd have Lauren dial up every flower company in town and mandate that no flowers be sent here. Her secret admirer would receive the hint that she wasn't impressed and be forced to take their creepy attempt at romance elsewhere.

Not wanting to make Hunter suspicious, she forced a smile and said, "Yeah. I think I can handle it."

She hoped to hell Hunter believed that. Since she didn't even know exactly what she was dealing with yet, she wasn't even able to convince herself.

* * *

Okay, now that that's out in the open I can explain the direction I've taken this one, LOL. I didn't want to just have them sitting in therapy and have it be a total Hunter-bashing session. It needed to be clear that it took two to mess up this marriage, even if it's mostly (obviously) on Hunter. And with him doing everything right, the ball is now basically in Stephanie's court, so that's another angle I get to work from along with the whole rose-sending business. Yay for continuation of this story! haha.

SuperDooperMario, thanks for the well wishes! LOL at you and Jess and the "No! No fighting!" command. With people as stubborn as these two it's almost necessary for them to have it out. You're sort of right; quiet, controlled talk gets them nowhere until after someone's had an emotional outburst of some sort :-D


	16. Expansion

Stamford, Connecticut, middle of July, 2002

Over the last three weeks, things had gone really well for Hunter and Stephanie. She was 31 weeks pregnant now. He'd attended her check-up with her just a couple of days prior. He didn't have a whole wealth of knowledge about pregnancies but he was shocked at what he saw on the ultrasound. There was a little person just floating around inside of her stomach. Logically, he knew that but his heart swelled with pride when he saw it for himself. A large part of that was because the last time he'd seen a picture of their baby, he or she looked like a cross between a sea monkey and an alien. Stephanie had backhanded him on the stomach for his description, but both she and the doctor couldn't help from laughing at it.

Shawn and Kevin were both out of action and had decided to do a cross-country road trip. They'd kept him extremely entertained with their crazy stories and plans. When he wasn't catching up with two of his best friends, he'd been dabbling in personal training.

He didn't exactly need the money and wasn't doing it to generate an income. So, he gave his expertise in the form of a free consultation and four weekly workout sessions. The service picked up quicker than he'd anticipated and he'd had to cut back to two sessions per week, to make room for as many people as possible. And to make sure he still had a few weeknights as well as most of the weekend free to spend time with Stephanie.

It felt good to be busy again. And surprisingly, it felt good to help people. When he was done with his in-ring career he might just consider doing something like this full-time, for a fee.

He rounded the corner and entered the big, open, cubicle-filled space that was the Contracts department. He waved and nodded as appropriate as he passed everyone. He came to a stop in front of Lauren's desk.

"Hunter!" She greeted with a smile. "Haven't seen you around these parts lately."

"I've been somewhat swamped during the daytime," he told her honestly. He twirled the solitary red rose in his hand and asked, "Is she busy?"

Lauren shook her head. "She's free," was her confirmation. "But, I'd lose that," she pointed to the rose, "if I were you."

He chuckled, but his brow creased in confusion. "Why? She loves these."

Lauren glanced over her shoulder, making sure the door was closed. She beckoned Hunter closer by crooking her finger. When she was satisfied that no one could hear them, she whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "Boss has had me implement a strict 'no red roses' policy. Even went so far as to have me dial up all the flower shops within a ten mile radius and ban them from being sent to her."

"Wow," he whispered back. His hazel eyes were wide with astonishment. He thought that Stephanie liked the flowers he gave her. At least, she always seemed to. She never hesitated to smile, take it from him and place it in water. And she hadn't said anything when he continued to show up at her house with a red rose, to take her out. It hurt to think that she might not actually appreciate or want the gesture. It hurt even more that for some reason, she had decided it was better not to tell him. Instead, she'd had her gatekeeper do her dirty work at the office. He pressed his lips into a line, briefly drawing the bottom on in, to bite it. "You like roses?" He asked in an attempt to hide his wounded feelings.

Lauren's eyes softened. It was hard to believe that a guy who made his living punching, kicking and using a sledgehammer to wreck other people's bodies, had a soft spot. Then again, Stephanie seemed to elicit that soft side out of most people she encountered, so maybe she wasn't all that surprised now that she thought about it. She nodded. "Yeah," she told him, giving a reassuring smile.

"Hope you enjoy it then." He handed her the rose and flipped her a playful wink before standing back up and walking over to enter his wife's office.

He knocked on the closed door and waited.

"Come in," was the muffled invitation.

Hunter twisted the doorknob and stepped inside the office, closing the door behind him.

Stephanie's previously bored and neutral mood quickly turned to excited and she shot up from her seated position behind the desk. "Hey baby!" She greeted as she walked to the other side of the desk, perching herself on the corner closest to him.

Despite his hurt and mild irritation he couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm to see him. His long legs made short work of the distance between them. "Hey yourself."

Stephanie bit her lip and flushed red with embarrassment. "I missed you," she admitted softly before averting her eyes to the floor.

He stepped closer so that they were almost touching. He reached out and used his index finger to tilt her face upwards. "I missed you, too," he returned before leaning down to press a kiss to her lips.

Stephanie sighed contentedly when they broke apart a few moments later. She hugged Hunter fiercely. The positioning felt right, but in reality was so awkward that he had to brace one hand against the desk to keep from toppling onto her.

"Hey," she said suddenly. "Didn't you forget something?"

Reluctantly, he pulled back to stare at her. He searched her eyes and realized she was absolutely serious. "What?" He asked.

"My rose," she told him matter-of-factly. "I mean if you didn't have time or something, I get it. But, you've spoiled me and now I'm used to getting them whenever I see you. It's like a double present," she flirted, grabbing his hands and swinging their arms from side to side.

Initially, he just blinked a few times in response. He was waiting for the punch line but it never arrived. "You're joking, right?"

"Well, no," she informed him. "I'm not going to bite your head off about it. It was just sweet and romantic of you to do, that's all."

Again, all he could summon was a blink for a few seconds. He stepped back from her a little. "Seriously, Steph. If you didn't want roses anymore, all you had to do was say so. I could easily find some other small token to get you on a regular basis."

She got down from the desk. What the hell was happening? They were about two minutes away from having some type of emotional couple breakdown. And she had no idea why. "Listen to me, you stubborn man. I like them. Gimme," she said simply.

"If you like it so much, why did you have Lauren put a ban on red roses, then?"

"What?" She asked, truly taken aback. Because the delivery flowers had stopped arriving, she had totally forgot about her mandate. She shook her head, mentally kicking herself for her stupidity. How the hell was she supposed to get out of this without telling Hunter about her creepy admirer? She placed a hand on his massive chest. "It's not what you think, baby," was her half-assed explanation. She hoped that the contact would be enough to distract him from this conversation long enough for her to figure out something plausible that wasn't a total lie.

He took another step back and crossed his arms over his chest, staring at her intently.

_So much for that idea, _she thought. She ran a hand through her hair tensely. Then she reminded herself that a main reason her relationship had fallen apart months ago was because Hunter didn't trust her fully. Yeah, now he knew that he had pegged her incorrectly and all. But, it would probably knock them down a level or two if she lied to him about this. She would just have to tell him the truth and they would deal with the aftermath together.

Besides, she'd already taken care of this. Flowers were banned and the weirdo had stopped. End of story as far as she was concerned. She sighed and walked over to resume her previous sitting position on the edge of the desk. "Remember when you congratulated me on finally keeping a flower alive for more than a couple of days?"

"Three weeks ago?"

She nodded her head in confirmation. "And you told me that every rose you got me, you gave it to me face-to-face. And then I got sick," she reminded him. "The truth is that ever since you came to my house to tell me everything back in May, a flower has shown up daily. First, they were left on my doorstep for a couple of days. Then, they started showing up at work instead. I thought they were from you. But, they weren't. That realization just really freaked me out. So, yes. Yes, I had Lauren ban the damn things from this office entirely. My stupid pregnancy brain didn't inform me it'd be a smart idea to stipulate that flowers from you were okay."

Calmly, Hunter nodded. "Would I have found out about this if it wasn't for the slip up?"

She twisted her lip and answered honestly. "I don't know, Hunter. I didn't want this to disrupt our relationship's progress, you know? It seemed better all-around if I could just handle it alone and-"

"But you're not alone," he interrupted. He was going to try his hardest not to shout. He wasn't angry with her, he was angry with the circumstances. With whomever had been giving her this unwanted attention. "First of all, you have me, Steph. You're my partner in life and we're supposed to share these kinds of things with each other. Second of all, you're not even alone in your own body; you're carrying our baby. I don't appreciate the pigheadedness that has endangered my wife and child." Though he was completely serious, she cracked an amused smile at his way of wording his fears.

"I'm sorry. And believe me when I say this wasn't at all about me trying to shut you out. I just wanted it to go away so we could concentrate on each other and our little one. And after the weirdness stopped, I forgot all about it."

"Pregnancy brain?" He offered, smiling that she had sensed his thoughts that she hadn't been letting him in again.

"Probably. I can't say that I'd have told you about this later. I would have been more likely to forget it ever happened or that it was a non-issue that didn't warrant a discussion."

He reached for her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. "I understand," he said seriously. "Now, never do it again," he said playfully but she knew he was only making light of a situation that he saw as potentially dangerous, to keep himself from freaking out.

Hunter released her hand and walk around her desk. She eyed him curiously while he flipped through the stacks of paper occupying her space. He nodded, apparently satisfied with what he saw. His head momentarily disappeared as bent down to pick something up. He reappeared and held her black tote bag out to her.

"What are you doing?"

"You're out of work to do. You're salaried, so we're leaving. We're going to buy a dog."

Despite her shock, she still reached out and took her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. Hunter grabbed the stack of contracts so she could drop them off with Lauren. "Why?"

"Some potential nut, knows where you live and work. I don't want to pressure you to move back home. A dog is the compromise I'm willing to make with you."

She shrugged and smiled at him. "Okay."

Stephanie loved dogs, but their intense traveling schedule had made having one almost an act of cruelty. Unless they took it on the road with them, they would have hardly ever been around it. And, she was pleased that her husband was exerting some control over what family decisions were being made. It showed her that he was making great strides in forgiving himself.

Two hours, three dog stores, one kennel and an animal shelter later and they still hadn't found a canine they could both agree on.

"Aw," she gushed, interacting with the dog in the cage. "Look, Hunter," she tugged on his hand to stop him from rolling his eyes. "She's so cute."

Hunter eyed the white-furred pooch that had planted its front paws on the cage to stand. It stared at him, opened its mouth and wagged its tail, signaling that it was friendly and wanted to go home with them. He turned away and looked down at his wife, smiling. "We're not getting a mallard duck," he said firmly.

"Hunter!" She chastised, smacking him in the arm with her free hand. "It's a Maltese," she corrected him.

"I know that," he affirmed. "But it's going to be as effective at protecting you as a duck would be."

"That's so wrong." But, she laughed in spite of herself. She pointed a few cages down. "What about this guy?"

He walked forward and read the card with the description of the puppy. He turned to her with a dissatisfied frown. "Nope. No penguins, either."

"Pomeranian. Why can't I have any of the dogs I want?"

"We're here to get one that can actually _do _something. You know, earn its keep by protecting the house. You, my dear seem to only be interested in the pups that shit, eat, nap and sit in your purse and stare enviously, wondering when it's their turn to get a manicure."

Fighting the urge to laugh out loud at his summary of the pets she desired, she pouted instead. "But, they're so adorable!" Was her protest.

"I'm sure an intruder would think so, too. His worst fear will be that the doggie licks him to death."

"Now you're just being absurd. All dogs have teeth!"

"Yet, not all have the urge to use them to protect their owners. Or have the size to do so."

"We're not getting a Rottweiler or pit bull. That is where I draw the line. Those dogs are way too vicious and unpredictable to be around our baby."

"I agree. So we'll compromise. Somewhere in between an attack dog and a froo-froo dog."

Thirty minutes later, they left the animal shelter hand in hand and satisfied. In Stephanie's free hand was the pink leash to the six month old Maltese puppy that trotted alongside her happily. Ultimately, she had decided it was too cute, friendly and energetic to leave behind. She begged and charmed her husband until he gave in. In Hunter's free hand was the blue leash to the seven month old golden retriever puppy. It walked slightly in front of them, looking back every couple of seconds to make sure he was going the right way.

Hunter turned his head to glance down at Stephanie, who was wearing a dopey grin. He shook his head and gazed down at the Maltese puppy. He would swear it wore the dog-equivalent of a dopey grin. He sighed, wondering why he could never successfully deny Stephanie what she wanted. They reached the car and he watched curiously while Stephanie emptied the contents of her tote bag into the backseat. The small, eager dog hopped onto the front passenger seat, wagging its tail. Stephanie unhooked its leash and held her empty bag in front of the puppy and it obediently jumped in.

As if to make him feel better about the situation, the golden retriever puppy bumped its head against his leg. He reached down to pick the dog up, feeling a sense of pride that he'd managed to deny his wife for two hours and four establishments before giving into her desire for a purse dog. It had to be some kind of record and at least they also had a useful dog to show for it.

He closed Stephanie's door for her after she got settled. He unhooked the leash from the golden retriever and sat him down on the floor of the backseat. The puppy walked in circles before finally finding a comfortable way to sit down.

Hunted jogged around to the driver's side of the car and got in. He started the engine and prepared to back out. He noticed that the dog had moved, now perching its paws on the center console between him and Stephanie. _Hmm. You like to keep an eye on things, _Hunter thought, pleased with his choice in dogs. "Good dog," he told it, rubbing the top of his head.

The Maltese let out a high-pitched bark. Stephanie laughed and said, "Someone's jealous." She scratched behind the dog's ear to appease it.

In return, the golden retriever let out a deeper bark of its own. Hunter nodded and said, "Now _that _is how a dog is supposed to bark," he bragged.

"Shut up."

"Make me," he dared.

Stephanie leaned over and pressed her lips to his, effectively silencing him. She settled in for the ride back over to her office and thus her car and couldn't help but think of how her family was expanding so rapidly. As if to confirm her thought, the baby kicked her.


	17. Carnations, Daisies, Lilies

BIG thanks to Jess and dldb. You ladies rock! And Jess, I haven't been dropping clues to the flower dude's identity. So you didn't miss anything haha. But what I can tell you all is that he'll be revealed in the last or second to last chapter...and cause quite a ruckus (fights and complications and things...that's all I'm saying hehe). Stay tuned :-D

Over 80 hits to the last 3 chapters consecutively and 2-3 replies each seems a teeny bit disproportionate, people. What's up with that? LOL.

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Stamford, Connecticut, End of July, 2002

The blend of deep and high-pitched barks woke Stephanie up. She sat up in bed, forcing Hunter's limp hand to fall from her waist to her leg. She reached over and tapped the lamp once, bathing the room in a soft glow. Her eyes squinted at the digital clock on the nightstand as she yawned and stretched.

_6:30am. _Christ, they hadn't gone to sleep until somewhere around 3am. _But_ _apparently the pets don't care about that, _she thought dryly.

Sensing that she was awake, Max ran into the bedroom. He walked over to the side she was on and put his front paws on the bed. Instinctively, she reached out and stroked his golden fur. Max relished the attention, before his ears twitched at the sound only he and Bailey seemed to hear. He resumed his position on the floor and growled lowly in the direction of the living room, his tail sticking straight out.

Bailey continued to whine at what sounded like the front door, tapping her small paws against it in protest.

Stephanie didn't know what the hell was going on to have both dogs so on edge. But it was enough to freak her out. Suddenly feeling horribly exposed, she clutched the sheet to her uncovered chest tightly.

She kept her frightened blue eyes trained on her bedroom doorway like she was expecting the threat the dogs felt to pop out at any moment. Her left hand reached out and she touched her husband's bare back gently. "Hunter," she whispered, giving him a little nudge. If there really was someone or something here, it was better not to let them know exactly where she was.

At her side, Max barked and let out a whine before lowering his head to growl menacingly again. That did it.

"Hunter," she said loudly, shaking him relentlessly. For a few seconds he didn't budge and her frustration and fear grew. Finally, he groaned and squeezed her leg before releasing it and turning over to lie on his back.

For a moment she was stunned. This was the most green she had ever seen in his eyes. That color was dominating them right now, but had flecks of dark gold. Usually it was the other way around. Despite the fact that she'd woken him from a deep sleep, he smiled. Her breath caught in her throat and she forgot what she was going to say.

Hunter remained on his back, staring up at her with an expression of pure love. It would be unsettling and overwhelming if she didn't feel exactly the same way towards him. There was no question in her mind that they would make it. Their marriage would make it and in just 7 more weeks the baby would be brought into a stable, loving household. Everything she ever needed and wanted from him was somehow promised to her in this one look. One of his long arms reached out to softly brush her hair over her shoulder. His hand trailed down the silky strands, finally coming to rest on her lower back. He rubbed in firm, soothing circles. He knew that the area had been troubling her lately.

"Everything okay?" He asked, watching as she unconsciously leaned into his touch.

Before she had the chance to respond, Max growled loudly and ran out of the bedroom. He and Bailey barked in unison.

Hunter's mood immediately grew serious and his fingers stopped kneading her back. He sat up in bed and threw the covers off. He didn't need to ask her what was going on. The dogs were going ballistic. And there was clearly a reason she'd awakened him. She looked petrified.

Without another word, he dragged on the pair of track pants he'd tossed on the floor the previous night. He stalked over to her large walk-in closet and pulled out the baseball bat he made her keep in there. He flattened himself along the wall and inched towards the door. Every muscle in his body was tensed and poised to strike. His hazel eyes were alert and focused. Danger tended to do that to him, even if he had previously been in a coma-like sleep.

Stephanie's wide eyes stayed on him the entire time. She didn't know what she'd do if something happened to him. She loved him and was willing to admit she needed him in her life. And so did their child. Nothing could happen to him. She wouldn't be able to stand it. God, she felt an anxiety attack coming on. "Please be careful, Hunter," she requested. He could hear the barely contained panic in her voice.

His eyes softened and he walked over to her side of the bed quickly. He kissed her on the cheek. "I will," he agreed. "Just please stay here, baby. And keep this with you." He grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand and passed it into her hand.

She nodded and swallowed back the hard lump in her throat. To comfort herself, she pressed a hand to his chest before he turned away to resume his search. It took everything she had not to grab a weapon of her own and follow him outside of her bedroom. But, she knew that was reckless and selfish. Not only would she put herself and the baby in greater danger, but she would be a distraction for Hunter. That distraction might get him hurt. She just wished there was something she could do. She felt like an unmoving target, not to mention she was scared shitless for her husband. She clutched the phone and sheet tightly in her hands, straining her ears to hear anything.

Hunter crept through the darkness as silently as possible. When he reached the living room he peered out of the windows that were on either side of the front door.

Nothing was there. Just the dawn of the morning.

He walked over to the door itself and squinted through the peephole.

Nothing.

Max and Bailey stood on either side of him. They weren't barking or otherwise throwing a fit but they still seemed troubled. And the motion lights were on. His dogs weren't crazy and the lights wouldn't have been on unless someone had been out here. Hunter decided to take a risk and he opened the door. He saw nothing out of the ordinary until he looked down.

He picked up the huge bundle of red roses with a deep frown etched on his face. He was hoping this shit was over and done with.

Just as quickly, he dropped them upon seeing a flash of movement from the side of the house. He ran out with the baseball bat in hand and started down the driveway as silently as he could. He spotted the intruder attempting to climb over the gate and he ran at a sprint to catch him. He grabbed the back of the person's loose t-shirt and forcefully yanked them down.

The backwards, dark blue hat that the kid had been wearing fell off as his back collided with the concrete. "Ow," he groaned, wiggling around like a fish out of water.

Hunter wasted no time shoving the end of the bat into what appeared to be a teenager's neck. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He asked harshly.

It didn't matter right now that this was clearly a minor. A practically defenseless kid, given that Hunter had a size and weapon advantage. It was 6 in the morning. His very pregnant wife, himself and their two dogs had been sleeping peacefully. And this asshole scared the crap out of all of them to leave some flowers no one wanted. His patience was very thin right now and this kid had better start talking fast. The punk was lucky he didn't swing first and ask questions later.

On the ground, the kid put his hands up near his head in surrender. "Hey man, I'm sorry!" He exclaimed. "Don't kill me," he begged.

Hunter shook his head, his nostrils flaring angrily. He pressed the bat a little more firmly. "I repeat. What the fuck are you doing here?"

The kid was probably around the age of sixteen. His glazed, bloodshot eyes told Hunter he was probably using drugs or some other substance. It certainly didn't appear to be the normal consequences of sleep deprivation. The mop of shaggy brown hair appeared to normally fall into his eyes and down his neck, but right now it was splayed across the concrete in several directions. He was wearing baggy denim jeans, skater shoes and a blue t-shirt that appeared to represent some rock band. "I don't know nothing man!"

"You better start knowing or I'm gonna start swinging," he threatened.

"Look, some dude, ok? He called me up said he needed a favor. Said he got the info on my house from the directory and shit. You know? I'm not stupid, I looked me up," he stated, in direct contrast to his claim that he wasn't stupid. "Well, my parents...the line and stuff is in their name," he corrected. "Said I lived kind of close to a good friend of his and he wanted to surprise her with flowers. Only he wasn't in town to do it himself, he was traveling. And that he didn't want to go through a flower shop cause they ask too many questions. He wanted to stay off the grid."

"And that didn't seem strange to you?" Was Hunter's partially rhetorical question. He was fairly certain this kid was a stoner or at least well on his way to being one. That, or he was just extremely unintelligent.

The kid shrugged. "Shit yeah, it did. But, two days later a hundred bucks cash arrives like he said it would. He calls back and says he'll send a hundred-fifty the next time. To get 5 dozen roses from this nearby shop. He said whatever was left I could keep it and that he'd send me another hundred for my trouble.."

Hunter knew the answer to his next question, but he'd ask anyway. "What do you know about him besides what you just told me? His name? Where he was traveling to or from?"

"He didn't tell me nothing. Just gave me this broad's address. I wasn't sure if I had the right place so I was peeking around to make sure. I put the flowers on the porch like he said. But, I got spooked and hid on the side when I heard the dogs. They were pissed."

Hunter pressed the bat more firmly. "That 'broad' is my wife," he said between his teeth. "My extremely pregnant wife. You scared the shit out of her. I believe your story...because you're too much of an idiot to get a lie past me."

The idiot grinned. "Thanks."

"Do not come back to this house again," he warned. "And if you get a call from your friend, tell him to show up here himself."

The teenager's eyes widened. "Don't think he'll do either one man," he informed Hunter.

_Yeah, he's probably right. It'd be risky to use the same contact again. _He removed the bat, casually resting it on his shoulder. "Get out of here," he dismissed.

He watched the kid pull himself together and scurry off of Stephanie's property, while he slowly walked back down the driveway towards the house. He looked in the direction the kid had gone, seeing him two blocks away before he turned a corner and was out of sight.

Expelling a frustrated breath, he sat on the porch and put down the bat. He picked up the flowers. It was amazing how something so beautiful and romantic could become the total opposite depending on who they were from.

He heard the door creak slightly. Max and Bailey trotted out and Stephanie followed them, waddling ever so slightly. She was wearing a pair of his drawstring sweatpants and a sweatshirt. The pink tint to her eyes told him that she had been crying a little bit.

"Didn't I tell you to stay put?" He asked lightly, extending his hand to hers so he could bring her closer.

Stephanie obliged him and remained standing while he stayed seated. She threaded her hand through Hunter's hair and scalp. If she wasn't so nerve-racked she would have laughed when he closed his eyes and leaned against her stomach like it was his personal pillow. "The dogs calmed down so I figured it was all clear. But you didn't come back to bed, so I came to you."

"To see that I was safe," he finished for her. He smiled lazily and pressed a kiss to her rounded stomach.

"Am I that transparent?"

"Mostly," he agreed. "These are for you," he replied bitterly, pointing an accusatory finger at the bundle of flowers.

Stephanie shook her head before bowing it. "I don't want them."

Hunter grabbed the flowers and stood up. "Must have taken him a while to find some moron to pay to bring them here. Guess he's making up for the five weeks he missed."

"I guess," she replied despondently. She looked up at him, her blue eyes filled with tears. "It's not going to stop. And he'll always find a way to get to me at work or here. I'm surprised it took him this long. I-I thought this was over," her voice hitched and she put a hand over her mouth in an attempt to hold it together. She sniffled loudly and asked, "What do we do?"

His free hand rested on her hip. "Whatever you want, baby. I'd do anything to protect you and our little one in there."

She nodded, understanding that what he was willing to do for her was endless. His actions were halted only by her own restrictions. They saw each other several times a week and Hunter often stayed the night now. The two of them were practically living together already, albeit unofficially. The truth was she didn't know when a good time to make it official was. Until he gave her that unconditionally adoring look just ten minutes prior. With that one look all of her fears and doubts about him had disappeared and she felt ready to take that step. Her first instinct was to ask him to move in with her. She worked close and had gotten used to the area. But, that seemed silly when they already owned a home together. A larger, safer, more lavish home where no one had ever stalked her. "Can I come back home?" She asked quietly.

A sigh of relief left his mouth. Though he wished she would have had this idea sooner and unrelated to the fact that some freak wouldn't leave her alone, he was still happy. He'd waited for this moment explicitly for over two months. A part of him worried that she might never want to return. But, he had no intentions of pressuring her into it. That wouldn't do either of them any good. He smiled reassuringly. "It never stopped being your home. You don't have to ask. Just let me know when you want to start moving stuff."

"After a nap?" She grinned.

"No problem. We'll just grab clothes and essentials. Worry about the rest later."

"Sounds perfect." She leaned up to peck him on the lips. When she pulled back, she looked down and wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction. "Please, for the love of God get those things away from me," she gestured to the roses. "I really did love and look forward to the roses from you. But, after all of this I'd be fine with never seeing another one again."

Hunter chuckled a little and headed down the steps to throw the offending flowers away in the backyard. "Well, I could always give you carnations, daisies or lilies," he called over his shoulder.

"Good with those," she confirmed.


	18. Changes

I have zero idea where this chapter came from. I mean yeah I had the idea. But instead of going to sleep at a decent hour like I was supposed to, I stayed up to write this out. When the muses call, I must answer I guess. LOL. This chapter is long...and a lot happens in one day (not really..just looks that way)

Thanks for the reviews! This one is coming to an end in just 2 more chapters! (I'm really, REALLY hoping no random inspiration hits me and causes me to expand it again...having unfinished fic sucks haha). Enjoy and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one. The last little piece was an addition I made after I'd finished this chapter. But, it seemed like a good transition!

* * *

After waking up from their three hour snoozing session, Hunter and Stephanie had gone out for breakfast. At first, Hunter had planned to cook at her house so she wouldn't have the stress of getting ready. But, she decided that she would really rather get out than stay in. He couldn't blame her, seeing as the recent incidents had shown her that she might not exactly be safe here.

Following breakfast, they had gone to a nearby UPS and bought a variety of sizes of boxes for the impending move. They weren't taking all of her things right away. But, eventually that would happen so it wasn't a bad idea to stock up now.

For the most part Stephanie was just directing traffic. Her husband worried about all the stress she had been under with the whole flower business...not to mention the previous strain that their marriage had survived. The only time he let her lift a finger was simply so she could point at what she did or didn't want to take with her to Greenwich right now.

So far, she only had 3 boxes worth of clothes. Over half of it was for work, some was casual and the rest looked like it was strictly for lounging. Another box held her favorite toiletries and personal items. Between their two cars, it would be no problem hauling the stuff and the pets.

Hunter pushed one of the boxes using his foot. Given his strength and the fact that the floor was carpeted, it slid rather effortlessly. He gave it one last push, stopping when it was clear of the doorway. He poked his head out of the walk-in closet, his blonde hair hanging around the side of his face. "You sure you have enough clothes?" He questioned with a slight frown before jerking his head towards the deep cave that was her wardrobe. "There's still so much left in here."

Stephanie was sitting on the floor labeling the boxes using a permanent marker. Bailey was at her side, lying down while she groomed her paws. Max had run off into the corner of the room with an empty box and appeared to be either fighting with it or trying to prop it open to make himself a fort. Stephanie stopped what she was doing to look up at her husband. Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Most of that stuff doesn't fit me right now thanks to your gargantuan baby."

His nose wrinkled with his insult. "Hey, that's not very nice," he complained with a pout.

Her eyes twinkled with her amusement and she fought to keep the corners of her mouth from lifting in a smile. "You know it's true. You're 6'4" and weigh 260. I'll consider it a miracle if the baby doesn't come out at 3 feet long and fifty pounds."

"That is just mean, Stephanie," he laughed at the image of something that huge living inside of her. Logically, they both knew that was impossible. Plus, there was the fact that they'd recently seen exactly how big their child was. "First of all, you know I used to be lanky. And second of all...at 5'8", you really can't blame it all on me if the little one comes out taller than average."

Stephanie shook her head. "I can. I'm the Mom and I have to carry your kid. That means I can blame everything on you." She extended both of her hands up to him in a silent plea for his help in getting her off of the floor.

"No fair," he said before emerging from the closet fully. He walked the short distance to Stephanie and grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet.

A bright grin was her thank you. Then she pinched his cheek sympathetically. "Tough luck, hot stuff."

An hour later, Stephanie smiled as she pulled onto their street. She hadn't been here in over five months. She and Hunter had been back together for two months, but she still hadn't returned to their house. Part of the reason was because Hunter wanted to make most of the effort to right the wrongs of their relationship. And given that his schedule had a lot more free time than hers, he felt it was fair to always come to her side of town.

It was perfectly fine by her. At the end of the workday or week, she really looked forward to just relaxing. Fighting through rush hour traffic to get to Greenwich to go on a date was not appealing and she appreciated that her husband was making her load less burdensome.

To top it off, she really just wasn't ready to come back here. Not while she was still so guarded and unsure of her future with Hunter. Ever since their conversation in the elevator, her apprehension about him had eased a little bit every day. But coming back to the house that they'd made into a home was a huge step. And she had no idea how she would react to making it. It would be seriously weird to come here and see all of her things missing. She had no clue what all he had changed about the house in her absence.

And to visit him here would have just forced her to relive bitter, yet happy memories of when she actually resided here. Recent experiences had shown her that sometimes the littlest thing about their past could set off an emotional rollercoaster inside of her. So maybe it was better this way. Maybe it was good that she hadn't returned here until she was an occupant and not a guest.

Not that Hunter would have considered her as a guest. He had always been perfectly clear that this was her home and that she didn't need permission or an explicit welcome to show up. But, she couldn't help how she felt. The fact of the matter was that they had spent a full three months totally and completely separated. They didn't have so much as a phone conversation with each other. She had moved and he hadn't. She had made a new home – or at least tried to. And he had stayed in the one they had made together.

Perhaps it was irrational, but she would have felt like an intruder. Even now, she was happy that she was coming back but she was also worried. What if she got freaked out by some major change he had made while she was living elsewhere? The last thing she wanted to do was go nuts over something she had no right to. She _had _disappeared from Hunter's radar entirely. Though not legally broken, they were in fact broken up. It would be understandable if he altered the decor, figuring that she was never coming back.

_Here goes nothing, _she thought to herself with a sigh. She watched Hunter's arm reach out of his window and key in the code for the gate. The tall gates opened obediently and he drove in. She followed him up the winding driveway and stopped in front of the house, while he continued on to the garage.

Hunter pulled in and parked his red Mercedes before shutting the engine off. He opened the passenger door and allowed Max to hop out and stretch his legs. Hunter drummed his fingers on the steering wheel absently for a few seconds before glancing in his rearview mirror. Stephanie's car was nowhere in sight. Puzzled, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number. "Where'd you go?" He questioned as soon as she picked up.

"I'm in front of the house," she answered, slamming her car door shut with one hand and holding Bailey in the other.

"But you always park next to me in the garage," he reminded her.

Stephanie slapped a hand over her forehead for forgetting that detail. She surely didn't forget that whenever they had visitors in the past, they parked in front of the house. Already she was screwing up and she hadn't even been on their property for five minutes. "Oops. I'm coming right now." She ended the call and put Bailey down on the ground. At that moment, Max ran out of the garage and in their direction. Bailey took off to meet him halfway and they both ran off towards the spacious backyard. Stephanie laughed and shook her head at their antics before she got back into the car.

In less than a minute she reached the garage and pulled her blue BMW in beside Hunter. He was leaning against his car casually, shaking his head in mock-disappointment as he watched her get situated.

"You shame me, Helmsley," he told her while walking over to open her door for her.

She smiled sheepishly. "My bad," she apologized lightheartedly. At least he hadn't picked up on the fact that it was likely some residual mental or emotional problem that kept her from occupying her usual parking spot. She'd dropped the guards she had consciously been keeping up. But, going back to these usual habits of hers would probably take time. She just had to get used to the routine again and then she'd be fine.

Stephanie led the way into the house, carrying the shorter, lighter box of toiletries. Hunter couldn't see at all, because he was carrying the three boxes of clothes stacked on top of each other. She glanced over her shoulder every so often, making sure he wasn't about to crash into a wall. She held the door open for him using her body and he walked past her and into the living room, dropping the boxes when he finally made it.

Hunter separated the boxes, trying to decide which one to take upstairs first. He was broken out of his brief concentration when he heard light sniffling behind him.

Stephanie was standing there still holding her box, but it looked like she wasn't even aware that she was doing it. Her mouth was parted slightly and her eyes were watery.

Immediately alarmed by this outburst of tears and worried about her holding the box for too long, he walked over to take it from her. She looked at him then, somewhat startled. He quickly put the box down on the floor and looked at her quizzically.

"You-" her voice came out raspier than she had intended and she cleared her throat. She gestured all around the living room. "You left it the same," she observed in quiet astonishment.

Everything was just as it had been when she left. The furniture they had picked out together when they first bought this house was still present. The portrait of them above the fireplace. For deceptive purposes, they had pretended she was drugged and unconscious during their drive-thru wedding. In reality, they had gone to an actual chapel in Las Vegas right after they had filmed the fake wedding scene.

It still wasn't necessarily her dream wedding, but it was certainly more dignified than what the world had believed to have happened. The memory of their nuptials wasn't some video where she appeared to be knocked out. There were actual pictures of them standing together, hugging and kissing. Sure, an Elvis impersonator had sang during the ceremony and both of them were dressed casually, but it was better than nothing.

Silently, she walked over to the fireplace, running her slender hand over the mantle. The scrapbook of ticket stubs and receipts from all the mini-vacations they had been on was still here.

Stephanie was so absorbed in her thoughts of amazement that she didn't realize Hunter had joined her. Not until he stood directly behind her and placed a hand on either of her shoulders. "I thought it was clear now that no matter what I said five months ago, I never wanted you gone, Steph. Not really."

She nodded, still shocked and touched at what she was seeing. "It's becoming clear as glass," she said quietly.

Hunter gave her shoulders a light squeeze before leaving her with her thoughts and their mementos. He set about the task of taking her boxes up to the master bedroom and unpacking them.

He yanked a few outfits from his drawers and hangers and grabbed a few items from the bathroom. He tossed them into a large duffel bag and headed down the hallway.

While, passing the staircase, Stephanie's hand grabbed his arm. "What's that?" She asked curiously, gesturing to the bag slung over his shoulder.

"Just some of my stuff I'm putting in the guest bedroom."

A slight frown graced her features and she nodded. So, he had modified a few things. Obviously he made use of the spaces that she had cleared out when she left. She had to remind herself that she had no right to be upset about this. At least he was making room for her, without her having to ask. It wasn't like he expected to have her move back in this particular weekend anyway. He was a saint for doing this on little to no notice.

She sat on the bed and ran a hand over the plush, deep red comforter. This was her favorite bedding set. She remembered the day they'd purchased this. Everything they owned for some reason was a deep, dark color with either stripes or geometric figures for a design. She wanted something floral. Hunter had protested about making him sleep in unmanly covers. Finally, she talked him into a compromise. They could keep the color of the set relatively dark as he liked it. And she wouldn't go overboard with the flowers. It was a win-win situation. Still, she was surprised that he'd left this on when they were so many other sets he had to choose from. And with her gone, he could have easily picked out one of the ones he considered more masculine.

Hunter came back in the room with his bag now empty. He opened the door to his walk-in closet and stepped in.

"That's your closet," she pointed out.

He poked his head out, clearly confused. "Yeah," he said slowly, not understanding where she was going with this.

She tilted her head to the side, absently rubbing her stomach. The baby was being quite active today. "I thought you'd taken over mine."

He shook his head. "Nope."

Stephanie blinked at him a couple of times. What exactly was he doing, if not making room for her belongings? "Why are you taking your clothes to the guest bedroom?"

Finally, he stepped out of the closet, holding a black dress shirt by its hanger. "I was just taking a few things. So that you could have the master bedroom and I wouldn't have to come in here all the time. Gives you some privacy." He smiled at her easily and took the shirt off of the hanger.

_What the hell? _She asked inside her head. Hunter thought that she didn't or wouldn't share the room with him. Was he delusional? God, they had practically been living together at her place. And she'd shared the bed instead of putting him on the couch or in the room that would've eventually become the baby's nursery. So there was no reason why he should think that they would sleep separately here.

Instead of saying any of that, she watched as he continued to put things into the bag. When it was full, he zipped it shut and emerged from the closet, preparing to take another load down the hall.

As quickly as she could manage, she stood up and blocked his path to the door.

Hunter stood in front of her and cocked an amused eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Want to explain to me why you have the impression that I want to sleep in here alone?"

He adjusted the duffel bag strap and shuffled his feet somewhat nervously. This was a delicate topic. He had to get the words right, so that she wouldn't feel bad. The last thing he wanted her to think was that he was upset with or disappointed in her. He wasn't. It was natural for the transition to be this way, given that she had no intentions of moving back in today. The rose-sending freak had just kicked that into gear.

"You weren't ready to move back into our house yet. But, you know that it's safer here than at your other place. I don't want to make this any more stressful for you. So, I figured I'd give you the space you need," he told her honestly. "You know, to adjust."

Stephanie couldn't help herself, she chuckled the slightest bit under her breath. He was so off base. But, it was her own fault. Of course he would jump to that conclusion. She felt stupid for not realizing that was exactly how the situation looked. "I don't need any more space from you, Hunter," she said matter-of-factly. "She crossed her arms under her chest and stepped forward a little. "You want to know the truth?" She asked.

Hunter nodded and gestured that the floor was hers.

"When I woke you up this morning," she started slowly, trying to figure out how to word her thoughts. "The pets were going crazy and I was scared. I needed you there."

He reached a hand out to rub her cheek. "I know," he assured her.

She put up her hand to keep him from speaking any further. Then she grabbed his hand from her face and pulled it down to rest in between them. She intertwined their fingers and swung their hands from side to side. "You had to have been half-conscious when I finally got you to wake up, as hard as you sleep," she laughed. "But, the way you smiled at me...the way you looked at me in general," she lowered her gaze slightly and lifted an eyebrow. It was still hard to believe that she felt so much just from the expression he had worn on his face a mere few hours ago. It was almost like magically, the last five months hadn't happened. "It was everything, Hunter. The love, the devotion – all the things we've been talking about. It finally sank in for me this morning. I felt my fears about us go away entirely. I was ready to move forward with you, even before I knew there was another round of God-forsaken flowers left for me."

Hunter kept his face completely neutral. He didn't want to let his feelings on this subject or what he personally wanted, to cloud her judgment. They were doing so well. They'd stopped going to therapy a week ago because Dr. Hargrove said there was nothing more she could do for them really. They knew what their problems were and how to overcome them. It was just up to them to take charge of their lives and relationship and move forward, with the new foundation they had built. He didn't want to screw up all of their hard work by unknowingly pressuring Stephanie into something she wasn't prepared to deal with. "You're sure this is what you want, Steph?" He asked calmly.

A blinding smile graced her face and she exclaimed, "Yes!" She threw herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. He hugged her, pressing his lips to the side of her neck.

"I want to show you something," he told her as he pulled back.

She nodded and allowed him to lead her out of the room and down the hall. He stopped in front of the somewhat secondary guest room. More or less, they'd used this room to store things that they didn't feel like carting all the way downstairs. Curiously, she watched him open the door.

Stephanie covered her mouth with her free hand to stifle her gasp. There was adorable wallpaper adorning the room. She would've said it looked like an aquarium given that it was done in light blue, with various colors of fish spread out among it. But, the presence of random, yellow ducks near the ceiling defeated that notion. There was a crib with an attached changing station in the center of the room and a bassinet in the corner. They'd yet to talk about which one they wanted to use, so she wasn't surprised he bought both sleeping apparatuses. There was also a rocking chair next to the bassinet, holding a gigantic teddy bear. It was beautiful.

Hunter dropped the duffel bag he didn't realize he had taken with him and tugged her hand anxiously. He had no idea how she was going to feel that he'd done the shopping and decorating without her. But, he knew her tastes...at least he hoped he did. As long as she wasn't pissed off at him, he would take it. "Do you like it?"

She turned to him, staring wide-eyed. "Like it?" She asked incredulously. "Baby, I love it! You did such a great job. It's perfect!"

Another gigantic hug was his reward. "I'm glad...you had me worried there for a minute," he laughed over her shoulder.

"I was too stunned for words, honestly. And this brings me to an idea I had."

He let her go and pulled back to look at her.

"In two weeks let's join the WWE tour. You know, before the baby gets here."

Before he even really considered her idea in depth, he shook his head no. She was far too pregnant to be around their volatile industry. No way was he allowing this.

Stephanie frowned. "After 36 weeks, I can't fly anymore," she pointed out. "I'm good to go right now, though. So, let's go before our kid makes that less feasible."

"Absolutely not," he told her.

"Why?"

"You've been under enough stress without having to worry about one of those maniacs attacking you."

Stephanie snorted. "Please. My Dad and Shane would have them fired and arrested for even thinking of touching me."

"Not risking it. My answer is no. You're not going anywhere near an arena."

While she was happy that he was flexing his husbandly rights again, she wasn't satisfied that he was doing it about this topic. The business was very much a part of them both. She'd settled on only running things from Corporate because she was pregnant, practically single and in need of something stable. She needed to revisit the exciting side of things just as much as her husband did. The difference was she was willing to admit it. "But Hunter," she whined.

"No," he said firmly. "What about Max and Bailey?"

"They have tickets to come with us," she blurted out. When she saw her husband's eyes narrow at her suspiciously, she decided to throw it all out there. "And a...pet sitter has been hired. Hotel is booked..." she trailed off harmlessly. If she knew how to whistle, she would.

Hunter chewed his lip and finally resigned himself to ask her, "How long have you been planning this?"

She shrugged. "Couple of weeks. I know you miss wrestling," she started.

"I missed you more."

Stephanie nodded, knowing he was telling the absolute truth. "I missed you, too. You've been away from the rush of it all for almost 3 months. Who knows how much time you'll take off once the baby is here. This is my gift to you. To us. We're not working the events or attending any meetings, Hunter. We're going to look and enjoy ourselves. It'll be like a mini-vacation."

Hunter sighed. Damn her and her cuteness. The wide, excited blue eyes and the eyelashes she was batting sweetly and innocently were getting to him. The pouting lips didn't help either. And neither did the random guilt she had assigned to herself. Maybe she was right and they did need this week-long outing. God knows they deserved it after everything that happened over the last couple of months. And it would be fun to be able to just enjoy the travel and the shows, without having to actively participate and contribute to any of it. Obviously this meant a lot to her since she'd gone and arranged everything already.

_I never had a fighting chance, _he thought. "All right," he agreed.

Stephanie let out a squeal and asked, "Really? We can go?"

"Yeah yeah, we can go," he muttered, shaking his head. "Why can't I ever turn you down and stick by it?" He wondered aloud.

"I have no idea what you mean," she stated angelically.

Just then Bailey and Max came running into the room. They already seemed very familiar with the house, given that this was their first time here. Max sat in a far corner where he could observe everything. Bailey sat at Stephanie's feet.

Hunter gave her a knowing smile and pointed at the furry, white dog. "I present to you, Exhibit A."

A guilty flush of red stained her cheeks and she grinned before shrugging. "Denying a pregnant woman is practically against the law. Especially if you're the one who knocked her up," she added cheekily before tapping her foot against Hunter's abandoned duffel bag. "So you might as well unpack this," she directed lightly. "And bring your stuff out of the guest room. None of this separation business."

He could live with those orders. "Yes ma'am," he readily agreed before grabbing the duffel bag from the floor and heading into the guest room.

Stephanie watched him go and she sighed contentedly. She looked around the room – their baby's room. Everything was coming together quite nicely.

August 12, 2002; Las Vegas, Nevada

How appropriate it was that Stephanie was making her return to a WWE arena today. This was where it all started between her and Triple H. He looked down at the two-dozen roses in his hand before sticking them in the backseat of his rental car. He couldn't be sure if she'd received the singletons he'd sent over the last two weeks. He managed to get a hold of someone who resided across the street from her and he'd been informed that the last time they'd seen her, she'd left with boxes, two dogs and a tall, blonde man.

Nosy neighbors were the most helpful people ever.

He would make his final play for her affections and reveal himself as her secret admirer. Things would come full circle. She and Triple H's marriage would end for good in the very town that it had started. Women loved roses. There was no way she wouldn't be flattered by the gesture. By the lengths and expense he'd gone to, to make her feel special.

And he just knew he would get the opportunity to do so without hiding his identity after tonight.


	19. Do You Remember The Time When?

Hopefully there's no awful typos that totally confuse what's going on in this chapter. I'm sort of half-asleep right now LOL. 3/4 of this was written while I was awake, so hopefully the rest is coherent. Enjoy! And thanks for the great reviews! And for supporting this fic faithfully and all. I think this might have been my favorite fic to write - other than BTF (short fics rule haha).

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Stephanie and Hunter were both somewhat nervous. The last time that most of the people she would run into tonight saw her was at her wedding vow renewals. Even though that happened six months ago, it was still a potentially awkward predicament. She also worried about how her husband might react to any accidentally negative comments about their prior situation. In general, he'd had a very good handle on his anger. Then again, nobody had really been around to piss him off anyway.

Hunter was nervous about the way he had behaved after Stephanie seemingly vanished from the company. He'd purposely attempted to start numerous feuds by being a violent asshole. That was his normal method of operation in this business, but he usually only did that against actual enemies. This time he had done it to just regular, random opponents even if he previously didn't have a problem with them. He now knew that Vince had placed a ban on anyone retaliating against him, as a messed up way to punish him and screw with his head for how he'd treated Stephanie. Though the plan had been effective in frustrating him, he imagined that it had to have pissed off some of the boys in the back that they couldn't get revenge.

And when they previously traveled and worked together, people tended to take out their problems with him on Stephanie. Then there was the fact that they didn't know who went to such great lengths to send her roses or why they were doing it. So on the drive over to the arena, Hunter had stopped at a shooting range and purchased a stun gun.

Stephanie protested that he was being completely and totally paranoid and overprotective. But, he didn't allow her to talk her way out of carrying the item with her.

Tonight they would stay in Vince's office and watch the show. Right now the patriarch wasn't here. He and Shane had stayed long enough to greet them both warmly and then made a hasty exit, with Vince claiming that he had something extremely important to take care of and that he needed Shane to consult with him on it.

Stephanie would've felt left out from the meeting if she wasn't so intent on staying away from any potential drama. She had enough to deal with in the form of Hunter's nerves and refusal to let her out of his sight.

Hunter was pacing back in forth in the office to keep from losing it. Stephanie had given up trying to calm him down and had decided to eat, read magazines and browse the internet on her father's laptop to entertain herself before the show started. A small slip of paper appeared under the doorway and floated a few inches into the room. Hunter arched a curious brow and walked over to pick it up. Stephanie was too busy helping herself to a fruit salad to notice.

_Meet me at the gorilla position as soon as possible. We need to talk. Don't tell Stephanie. Vince_

Hunter tilted his head in consideration. Maybe Vince and Shane were planning some sort of surprise welcome back get together for him and Stephanie. Or maybe just Stephanie. That made more sense. Or maybe they'd arranged some secret baby shower kind of thing. He folded the paper quickly and stuck it in his back pocket. He wasn't leaving her alone, party plans or no party plans.

At that moment Shane reappeared, sans Vince.

"Watch Steph, will you?" He asked.

Stephanie lifted her head and narrowed her eyes while she chewed the rest of her watermelon. She scrunched up her nose and interjected with, "I'm not a child."

"No. However, you're pregnant with mine and I don't trust anyone other than family to be around you." He walked over and planted a kiss on her cheek, ignoring the way she sulked at being guarded. "Behave," he said playfully. But he was dead serious. In the past he wouldn't have put it past her to somehow sneak off and do what she wanted. He hoped that she saw how much this meant to him and just played it safe.

Shane chuckled at both of them, shaking his head as Hunter exited the room. It was a good thing that he was gone, because he needed to talk to his sister in private. He would let her decide for herself whether or not she wanted to clue her husband in. Most likely she would want to inform him of what he was about to tell her, but he couldn't be absolutely sure. Stephanie probably wanted to tell him what was going on in her own way.

He opened his mouth and prepared to update her, but he bit his tongue when Stephanie shot up from their father's desk. "I have to use the bathroom!" She exclaimed, before making her way to the door.

"I'm going with you," he decided, opening the office door for her.

Stephanie sighed and rolled her eyes before looping her arm loosely through his. There was no use in arguing. Especially not when she suddenly had to pee so badly. They walked – well, Shane walked and Stephanie waddled down the long hallway until they reached the restrooms.

"I'll wait out here," he told her right before she disappeared through the door.

Hunter turned down a corridor before finally reaching a large, open clearing. He couldn't help but smile as he thought of the idea of Stephanie being thrown a surprise party. Stephanie's sister-in-law Marissa was throwing her a meet and greet baby shower when the baby was six weeks old. It was mainly so that their small, intimate group of friends of family members could all see the baby. They didn't exactly need the help in purchasing essentials, so the baby shower wasn't necessary per se. But, it would be nice for the baby to get some additional items based on its gender and size.

He frowned as the gorilla came into view. Where the hell was Vince? All he saw standing around was a few stage technicians and random crew members. He took a seat atop a pair of speakers and waited.

After a couple of minutes, Hunter looked down at his watch impatiently. Vince was known for being a generally punctual person. So where the hell was he? In his low, gravelly voice he asked of no one in particular, "Has anybody seen Vince?"

Several heads shook and muttered negatively to his inquiry. _Screw this, _he decided. The man was always near the gorilla right before the pyrotechnics went off and the show began. But, Hunter didn't feel like waiting for another 6 hours for that to happen. Even though Shane was with Stephanie, he still wanted to get back to her as soon as possible. Even a fifteen minute interruption was too damn much.

He pulled his cell phone from his back pocket and dialed his father in law's number.

"Yeah?" Vince answered.

"Vince, are you coming anytime today?" He asked sarcastically. "I've been waiting for a few minutes already."

"Huh? Waiting where?"

Hunter creased his brow in concentration and said slowly, "I'm at the gorilla, like your note said."

"Note? What note?"

Hunter immediately jumped up from the speaker and started walking. He had a really bad feeling about this already, but he would try to get the full story before he well and truly started to panic. "You left a note in the office saying for me to meet you at the gorilla as soon as possible and not to tell Steph."

Vince swallowed roughly. "Is she alone?" He asked quietly.

"Shane's with her. I'm going back now."

"Okay, good. I'll be there to talk to you both in about half an hour."

Hunter ended the call and picked up his pace while he made his way back to Vince's office. He was tempted to run, but that would draw too much attention and possibly some questioning as well. Right now he didn't want to deal with either of those things. What he wanted was to make sure Stephanie was okay, since someone had obviously tricked him into leaving her side. He hadn't been gone longer than ten minutes, plus Shane was with her. She would be fine. She had to be. His eyes darted around conspiratorially and he picked up the pace.

Shane stood outside of the women's restroom hoping that he didn't look too creepy. He just felt that it was a really bad idea to leave her totally alone. Part of that was for her safety as well as the baby's. The other part was out of fear for his own safety, if Hunter found out he let her wander the halls unguarded.

He mused that he really did look like a bodyguard since he was standing with his feet planted firmly and arms folded across his chest. To make matters worse, he was scanning the halls every few seconds to make sure nothing was amiss.

His brown eyes narrowed when he spotted a familiar figure stopping in front of his father's office. He watched in astonishment as Kurt Angle grinned to himself before raising his hand to knock on the door. There was a bouquet of flowers in his free hand.

Totally forgetting about his post outside of the bathroom door, he immediately jogged over before Kurt could make a run for it.

"I told you to leave Stephanie alone!" Shane shouted, planting his palms into Kurt's chest and giving him a solid shove.

"I have!" Kurt yelled back.

Stephanie walked out of the bathroom and was a little puzzled to find that her brother wasn't there anymore. She quickly realized that it was his voice she heard shouting down the hallway. Absently, she rubbed her stomach while she walked down to see what all the fuss was about. A lump lodged itself in her throat when she saw the subject of the disagreement. It was Kurt Angle and he was holding what looked to be a bouquet of mixed flowers. She decided that the safest place to stand would be behind her brother.

Shane's voice became clearer as she finally reached the confrontational duo. "And it's going to stay that way. You understand me? She doesn't need the stress of dealing with you."

"I just wanted to welcome her back. That's it! You have no reason to believe any different."

"Oh no?" Shane asked with his brown eyes wide. "We can prove you were practically stalking her before. That's enough cause for me to be pissed."

"Excuse me?" Came Hunter's voice from behind them. Everyone turned around and saw him standing with his fists clenched and nostrils flaring. Stephanie knew him well enough to detect that his hands were shaking the slightest bit while he struggled to suppress his rage. "He was _stalking _her?"

Stephanie decided that now would be a good time to speak. "Sort of...back in May," she admitted. "No threats or anything," she added, in an attempt to calm her husband down.

Shane snorted. "Please!" He exploded. The frustration of having his sister possibly be in emotional or physical danger from more than one person was becoming overwhelming. He was finding that he wanted to take all of that out on Kurt since he happened to be standing here, blatantly disobeying his order. "He's the one who conjured up that tape of the doctor and sent it to Mom!"

Hunter kept trying to tell himself that he was a fool for believing the stupid tape and for instinctively distrusting his wife. He told himself that it didn't matter because they were good now. Better than ever, even. But before he could help himself, Hunter took a few, long strides and quickly had Kurt pinned up against the wall by his shirt. He slammed the back of his head into the wall. The flowers fell from the smaller man's hands and to the floor, scattering petals of various colors and textures all over the tiled floor. "Stay the fuck out of our lives, Kurt. This is your last warning."

Kurt looked Hunter square in the eye, his expression not mirroring the dull ache he felt in the back of his head. "Or you'll what?"

Hunter laughed a little and shook his head. "Trust me, you don't want to find out."

Stephanie watched in horror as her husband's grip tightened. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he didn't so much as flinch. "Hunter, stop!" He ignored her completely. "Shane, do something!"

Shane's response was a shrug. Hell, he had been close to doing the exact same thing that Hunter was. "Let him go, Hunter," she said firmly.

"Give me one good reason why I should!" He hissed in reply. The attitude, the anger, wasn't directed at her and she knew that. So, it didn't faze her. Hunter repositioned himself so that his forearm was pressed up against Kurt's throat.

Stephanie's blue eyes were wide and her lips were pressed into a thin, disapproving line. Her husband would kill a guy and she and her brother would be witnesses. Worse, was that Shane was just standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and head tilted as if this was the most interesting, entertaining thing in the world. Maybe it was. Kurt was obviously the one who'd been trying to misguidedly romance her. She wasn't entirely sure what his deal was and at the rate things were going she wasn't going to find out. Not when Hunter was cutting off the man's oxygen supply.

Her response to her husband's challenge was initially just a gasp. The timing was ridiculous. "Because my water just broke!" She exclaimed.

Hunter drew his eyebrows together briefly. There was no way Stephanie just said what he thought she did. Either he was mistaken or she was kidding. It wasn't time yet. She was only 35 weeks along. "What?" He asked, turning his head to look at her. He didn't ease up on the pressure he was placing against Kurt's windpipe. But, his hazel eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Water. Broke. Baby. Coming. Me, hospital, now." She added in clipped tones.

"I'll get my car going," Shane announced before taking off in a sprint down the hallway. He was thanking God he hadn't rented a two-seater car.

Hunter immediately released his grip on Kurt, allowing the other man to simply sag to the floor, gasping for air. He pointed his index finger directly in his face. "If anything happens to my wife or my child, I'll kill you," he warned. And he sincerely meant it. He didn't need another reason to want to bash Kurt's face in after all the stunts he'd pulled ever since he arrived in the damn company. He turned back to Stephanie and his eyes softened. Oh, Jesus. Their kid was really on its way. He wasn't ready...they weren't ready. They were supposed to have another five weeks to prepare. What did this mean for the health of the baby? Would everything be developed properly? Did her water break because of the stress they had all just been in?

Stephanie looked just as distraught as he felt. He had to suck it up and reassure her that everything was going to be fine. He couldn't allow her to fall apart like this.

He put his arm around her waist and led her in the direction of the parking lot. "Breathe, Steph. Just take it easy," he said in the most soothing voice he could muster. God, he hoped she wasn't able to notice that it was wavering. That would make her anxiety worse.

Everyone was so frantic about getting her the hell out of the arena that no one heard Kurt rasp out, "What's got them so pissed off?" He really had no idea what the big deal was. Yes, his behavior had been a little questionable. But, he'd decided to give up on ever obtaining Stephanie as a romantic partner. Or as a friend, at this point. At the very least, he just wanted to apologize and make amends to show that he was remorseful for his actions. He knew Hunter would never let him get near Stephanie, so he'd tried to separate them long enough so that he could talk to her. The mixed bouquet was very much like the one he'd given her shortly after she'd pinned Test in a 6-man tag team match almost two years ago. It had been Stephanie, Triple H and himself versus Test, Albert and Trish Stratus. He thought that presenting her with the same style of flowers would remind her that there used to be a time when they were good on a personal level.

Kurt rubbed his sore throat and pushed himself up the wall and off the floor. He looked down at the destroyed flowers and shook his head. _Guess not, _he decided, on his idea of resuming their friendship.


	20. Congratulations

I tried to finish this story at chapter 20. Alas, that was not meant to be. LOL. Hope you all enjoy! Jess, your various scenarios cracked me up. haha

* * *

So she'd gone into labor. That changed things. He had originally planned to show up and visit her in a couple of weeks and convince her to give the kid up for adoption or simply let Triple H raise it. After all, he was the one that left her a daily token of his love for her. Triple H, on the other hand had screwed up the many chances she gave him. Chances that he'd stolen and not earned in his opinion anyway. He would take the last couple of weeks of her pregnancy to remind her of that simple fact.

And she would be swayed. She'd see that Triple H didn't deserve her and that he did.

He modified the plan upon learning that she would be around this evening. It was a sign from the universe that he should make his move tonight. Not for one second did he believe it was a coincidence that she happened to come back in this particular city.

So many things started and ended here between himself, Stephanie and Triple H. And because the fates were on his side, the tides would turn again.

But now she was having that bastard's baby at this very moment. And he was out of time. He couldn't allow her to build too many memories with this little family she'd helped create. That would make it more difficult for her to forget about them and be with him. Something drastic needed to be done as soon as possible.

He glanced over to the bench in the locker room, eyeing the flowers thoughtfully. She would still get her roses, of course. Only instead of it being meant for romance, it would be sort of an insincere congratulations.

* * *

Stephanie had been in the hospital for three hours. By the research that she'd done, she was moving through the stages of labor quicker than a lot of women did. But God help her, it still wasn't fast enough for her liking. She grimaced and squeezed her husband's hand as another contraction hit her. She wasn't sure it eased her own pain but it did help with the stress of the situation. And it was partially his fault that she was suffering this way, so it was only fair that she transfer some of her agony onto him. That was her rationale and she was sticking to it.

After a minute the contraction eased and she relaxed, resting her body against the bed.

Hunter watched her face with a somber expression. He felt bad that she was in so much pain. Though her hand had been squeezing his like a vice grip for the last thirty minutes, he wouldn't dare complain about it. Not with what she had gone through for the last 35 weeks, what she was currently going through and what she would experience in the later stages of labor.

He reached up and brushed her hair back from her moist forehead. "You're doing so good, baby."

"It sure doesn't feel like it," she disagreed through her heavy breathing. "If our baby is too impatient to cook for a couple more weeks, he or she should be courteous enough to its mother to pop out quickly."

Hunter chuckled at her. He lifted her gown and pressed his lips to her stomach. "We need you to hurry up and get out of there, okay?" He requested before pressing his ear to her belly, as if he was waiting for a response.

Stephanie laughed at the cute gesture and at the sensation. "Your beard tickles," she informed him while she lifted her hand to play with his curly ponytail. She laughed louder when he purposely rubbed his stubbly cheek against her stomach several more times before putting her gown back where it had been.

He resumed his prior position. The contractions were consistently coming closer together. And if the grip she would get on his hand was any indication, it appeared that they were quickly escalating in strength. _Any minute now, _he thought, steeling his face so that he wouldn't wince much.

_Ow, _he thought as she squeezed his hand particularly hard. If she was slightly stronger she might possibly succeed in crushing the bones of his hand. Since she couldn't, he would just support her, comfort her and endure the pain. The contorted look on her face was proof that what he was feeling was nothing compared to what her body was suffering through.

When the clenching inside of her lessened, Stephanie leaned back into the pillows breathing deeply.

* * *

Hunter and Stephanie's son weighed in at 5 pounds and 8 ounces and was 19 inches long. Immediately after his birth the doctors had run the standard Apgar tests. The baby looked and sounded healthy from where they were sitting. So it took all Stephanie and Hunter had to not get beside themselves when they moved him to the NICU for observation. They wanted to see and hold their baby. Even though they were told he appeared to be developmentally perfect, it wasn't sinking in for them.

If the baby was perfectly healthy, why wasn't he in the room with them? Logically, they knew the reason why. But, they were new parents who hadn't even been able to hold their child yet. It didn't feel fair and the stress of the situation was taking its toll on both of them.

Stephanie sniffled and dragged a hand across her weary eyes. "I just want my baby," she said softly.

"I do too, Steph," he agreed gently. He tightened his arm around her shoulders and played with the dark brown hair fanned out across them. "But they have to make sure he's okay. You weren't due for another 5 weeks and he needed at least 2 more in there to be considered full-term."

Stephanie crossed her arms under her chest stubbornly. She knew that already. And she didn't care. Damn everything else to hell, all she wanted was to hold their kid. She pressed her lips together and stared at the wall as if it would somehow ease her longing.

Since they had opted to not learn the sex of the baby, they had to consider boy and girl names. Stephanie was picking the first name and Hunter was choosing the middle name. He knew Stephanie had found dozens of boy names that she liked. But, they thought she would have more time to make the final decision. Hunter nudged her a little. "Hey," he brightened. "Did you pick his first name?"

She shook her head slowly. "Not yet."

"Top 5, then?" He pressed, intending to lighten both of their moods.

Stephanie sighed. "Ryan, Jackson, Kellan, Oliver and Tyler."

Hunter nodded. At least she was somewhat humoring him on this topic of conversation. "I like them all."

"Great. He can just have 7 names then. Those 5, the middle one you give him and his last name."

He still couldn't see her face fully because she was staring at the wall, but he smiled. She was making a joke. He could hear the slight smile in her voice.

Lowly, he chuckled. He halfway wanted to agree to the idea giving their son all of the first names she liked, just to see what she would say. But, he didn't. Instead, he contemplated. "You know every last one of those names ends in 'r' or 'n' don't you?"

Stephanie shrugged. One side of her mouth lifted in a little smirk, though he couldn't see it. "Those letters sound really good with Helmsley."

Hunter loved their boy endlessly already. But it wouldn't do either of them any good to sulk the entire time he was being checked on. They'd barely gotten a glimpse of him before he was taken away. Hopefully they would soon have him back and they could inspect him on their own.

"What's his middle name?" She asked, with her voice slightly less despondent than it had been ever since they took the baby away over an hour ago. "That might help us pick a first name easier," she reasoned.

"Nicholas," was his simple answer.

In his arms, Stephanie finally shifted to somewhat lie on her side so that she was facing him. Her eyes had been soft from sadness, but this look was something else. She furrowed her brow and realized, "Your foster Dad that died in the accident."

Now it was Hunter's turn to stare at the wall. "Yeah," he confirmed. He allowed the memories of Nicholas and Samantha Reece to fill his mind. There were so many experiences that he had in the year that they had acted as parents to him. Nick took him to his first live wrestling event and to baseball games. Sam taught him how to cook. These were tangible things that he could recall effortlessly. It was the little things like how they treated him well and made him feel right at home that stuck out the most in his mind when he thought of them. But those innumerable stories were hard to hold on to after all this time. It was impossible to remember every conversation or shared family meal.

That's exactly what the couple had been to him; his family. But, they were long gone now and all he had left of them were his thoughts. The very foundation of his current, permanent family was lying right next to him. He turned to look down at her and he saw the unspoken sympathy in her eyes. She knew how much Nick and Sam had meant to him, given that every other set of parents he'd known had let him down or mistreated him in some way.

For some reason it touched him that even though she was very upset about their baby, she had room to feel something for him as well. He was so glad that she was around and that he had eventually disclosed his past and gone to therapy with her. Now, she understood him in a way that no one ever had before. He didn't need to voice his thoughts for her to tell how much their son's middle name meant to him or to know where his thoughts had taken him.

Stephanie gave him a reassuring smile. "It's a good middle name," she said before leaning up to kiss his cheek. She settled back down on the bed, leaning against his side. After a moment of silence she declared, "I love you so much, Hunter."

Feeling his wistful thoughts fade, he grinned at her. She somehow always knew what to say to make him feel better. "And I'm completely in love with you."

After a few moments of silence had passed, she spoke. "I want to change my name."

Hunter arched a curious brow. _This should be good_. He wondered what random name she'd come up with. "Why?" He asked. "And to what?"

She tucked a lock of hair behind her left ear. "I think that in a tribute to leaving parts of our past behind, I want to drop McMahon."

Hunter shook his head. Legally speaking she was still solely Stephanie McMahon. He had accepted her decision not to take his name because her family was somewhat of a dynasty. He understood that she was very proud of that legacy, even though her intentions at the time were to take over the entire company. "You don't have to do that for me, Steph."

"I'm not. Not entirely. It's for us as a couple. It might also do some good in making you get it through your thick head that I won't be going anywhere," she smiled before thumping him in the head affectionately.

He laughed at her rationalization. He was moved, but he didn't want her to do this. Not if it was solely to make a statement to him. He already got the point that she loved him and would stick by him no matter what. "I know that, though."

Stephanie held up a hand so that she could explain herself fully. "It's for me, too. I don't want to feel like I'm not giving our marriage one hundred percent. Shortly after we got married and I decided not to change my name I was honestly a little unsure of our future. I knew that we loved each other and all. But everything happened so fast, you know? I didn't want to go through the hassle of changing it only to maybe have to change it back later."

Hunter nodded. That made sense. And judging by how quickly they fell in love after deciding to unite against Vince as well as the recent prolonged separation, he wasn't going to fault her for having felt that way.

"So when we renew our wedding vows I'll legally become Stephanie Marie Helmsley and just use McMahon-Helmsley professionally," she declared proudly.

His lips twitched into a smile. He couldn't deny that he liked the sound of the name. "If that's really what you want."

"It is," was her simple answer.

After a couple of minutes of just laying there enjoying being wrapped around each other, the nurse walked in carrying what appeared to be a bundle. They both sat up more alert in the bed and Stephanie tried her hardest to stop straining her neck to steal a peek at their son before he arrived in her arms.

Her throat felt hot and suddenly restricted as she blinked back her tears. "He's okay?" She asked without bothering to attempt to hide the emotion in her voice.

The nurse, Lydia, was a mocha-complexioned petite woman of average height and weight. Her jet black hair was pulled back into a neat bun, making her prominent cheekbones and piercing dark eyes stand out more. She grinned at the couple and placed the swaddled infant in Stephanie's waiting arms. "He's fine. Everything is developed as it should be. When you breastfeed him, just make sure he's latching on okay and is eating enough."

"Okay," she eagerly agreed as Lydia made her exit quietly.

Stephanie looked at her son in adoration. He was perfection in tiny, human form. How could she love someone she just met so very much? "Jackson Nicholas," she whispered as she adjusted her arms to hold him more comfortably.

Hunter grinned at the baby boy, tracing his tiny nose - a direct copy of Stephanie's - with one finger. "Jack Helmsley." He looked up at Stephanie and nodded his approval of the name. He kissed her on the lips and leaned down to drop one on Jack's forehead.

Jack recognized their voices. He yawned and squeezed his eyes shut even tighter before attempting to open them. He got about halfway and Hunter and Stephanie leaned closer to see if they could get an idea of what color they were. They knew that most likely his eyes would change colors between now and when he got older, but they still wanted to see. Before they could make out the color, Jack squeezed his eyes shut closed again briefly before opening them wider to reveal a pair of green eyes. Just as quickly as they made out the color, the baby shut his eyes again and kept them that way before letting out another yawn.

An hour later, Stephanie was on the bed halfway asleep and Jack was lying tucked into her arm, right in between her and Hunter. Hunter was propped up on one elbow watching the two most important people in his life. He reached over and stroked his son's soft medium brown hair. He smiled affectionately when the baby stirred the slightest bit. Already, he had developed two curls. It looked like he mostly got his hair color from his mother, but the pattern would definitely come from his father.

"Amazing, huh?" Stephanie asked without looking up at him. Her eyes were so heavily lidded that he wasn't sure she could manage to move her head even if she had intended to.

Hunter was dangerously close to being overcome with emotion that these two amazing people were really his. He'd contributed to Jack's existence. The boy was genetically half his and had no choice in the matter. But Stephanie had chosen him and wanted him, despite his faults, problems, upbringing and insecurities. She'd given him her heart, even when he didn't deserve it or truly know what to do with it. And now to cement the fact that she adored him, she'd given him a child. He swallowed the lump in his throat before replying to her likely rhetorical question. "Yes. You are amazing."

Her lips curved up in a lazy smile. "We all are," she offered.

He nodded and pressed a tender, lingering kiss to her temple. He pulled back after a few seconds and wasn't at all surprised to find that she was now also out cold. His best guess was that she forced herself to stay awake just for updates on the baby. Now that she knew he would be just fine, her body was giving in to the exhaustion.

Carefully, he removed Jack from his wife's arms and walked over to place him in the bassinet. He kissed the baby's rosy cheek before dimming the lights and going back over to join Stephanie on the full-sized bed. She shuffled closer to him and threw an arm over his waist while she slept.

It wasn't long before he drifted off as well. Even though it was only 8:30, everyone was clearly worn out from the day. Besides, visiting hours were over at 10 and Stephanie's family wasn't coming by until the morning. When Shane had left to update Vince, they had all been assuming that Jack would be in the NICU all night and that they wouldn't get to see him. Plus, Hunter and Stephanie wanted some alone time to process everything that was happening.

Not long after they had drifted off, a soft cry woke them both up. They sat up in bed and Hunter reached over to illuminate the room.

What they saw made both of their hearts leap into their throats and their bleary eyes immediately became alert.

Stephanie's ex-fiancée, Andrew "Test" Martin was in their room holding Jack in one arm. With the other, he tossed two-dozen roses on the bed. "Congratulations," he said gruffly before shifting to hold the baby with both arms.


	21. Crashing Down

LOL...I did rack my brain trying to think of who else could be sending the flowers, that made sense. I passed on Y2J since he's already a villain in Entwined and WAN. There's another twist up my sleeve and it'll be in the next/final chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Hunter squared his jaw and swallowed roughly. He wasn't going to do anything too sudden. Jack was a vulnerable newborn and God knows what Andrew came here to do. Stephanie inched her hand over to his and squeezed. Whether she was trying to offer him solace or calm the temper she knew would be at its boiling point, he had no idea. He couldn't think about that. All he wanted was to find a way get his son away from Test. "What do you want?" He asked as civilly as possible, hoping it was something reasonable. Something that got everyone out of this in one piece.

Andrew looked up from Jack and smirked at Hunter. The two men held each other's gaze in stoic silence. Dismissing his competition, he shifted his stare to Stephanie. His smile disappeared and he scowled at her instead. "Go in the bathroom and get your fucking clothes on," he hissed lowly and harshly.

Stephanie squeezed her husband's hand again, but continued to sit, staring at her former lover wide-eyed. What the hell was currently happening?

"Now!" He commanded, shifting Jack to just one arm, extending it as if he were about to drop him.

Stephanie ignored her aching body and quickly put up both of her hands, beckoning for peace as she jumped off of the bed, tears springing to her eyes. "Okay! Just p-please. Please don't hurt my baby," she begged. She continued to hold out a hand as she grabbed her overnight bag from the floor, retreating to the bathroom.

Andrew nodded and then looked down at Jack. "Mommy's a good girl, isn't she? Yes she is," he cooed.

Hunter didn't trust himself to speak. He needed Stephanie here to warn him of when he was going too far. He simply burned a hole through Andrew with his stare. If he wasn't mistaken, every last one of his muscles was stretched taut, ready to break this bastard in half for having the nerve to come in here and touch his child. And for yelling at Stephanie.

His head turned at the sound of the bathroom door opening. Stephanie reappeared, clad in somewhat loose, black sweatpants and one of his WWE t-shirts. He couldn't help but take a moment to marvel at how beautiful she managed to be after giving birth barely two hours prior and being dressed like a couch potato.

Her frightened blue eyes stayed on Andrew and Jack and he could see that she longed to pry the baby from the man's hands just as much as he did. She sat down next to him on the bed. "What do you want?" She echoed Hunter's earlier question.

"I want you," he said without hesitation.

"I'm married and I'm a mother," she pointed out. "Neither one of those has you as a necessary component," she said between her teeth.

Andrew narrowed his eyes and wiggled the baby to keep her attitude in line.

Stephanie bowed her head and squeezed her eyes shut briefly to reign in her anger. It suddenly occurred to her that Kurt hadn't been carrying roses tonight. He'd been carrying a mixed bouquet. "The roses to my house and my job...it was never Kurt, was it?"

Andrew sent her a somewhat wicked, lopsided smile. "This whole thing was my idea. From as far back as February. But I didn't have the resources to execute my plan alone. That's where Kurt came in. He hates Triple H and wanted you for himself. That was useful to me and I convinced him he should split you two up. But, he was sloppy and Shane found out what he had done. That pretty much meant I could do as I pleased because anything that happened would be blamed on him."

"And if I'd somehow fallen for Kurt?"

He laughed under his breath. "Wouldn't have mattered. I'd have found a way to get you away from him. Kurt is...easy to dispose of." He jerked his head towards Hunter. "Him, not so much. Partially because of his rep and smarts and partly because of his connection to you."

"I'll never love you, Andrew. I love Hunter. You know that," Stephanie said evenly. Rationally.

Andrew shook his head to disagree with her. "That's what this is about, Steph. You were perfectly content with me until he came along and stole you right from under me."

"I'm not some goddamn possession," was her heated reply. She was trying hard to not lose her cool and to just try to understand what the hell was going on. But, she was failing. She was a human being with free will. How dare Andrew threaten her child just because he believed he was entitled to her. And that he felt Hunter had pilfered her away from him. "I can't be bought, sold, traded or stolen. I picked him. I wasn't tricked or forced into it."

Andrew nodded, but he still didn't agree with her. "You'll want me again," he said confidently. "But not while he's distracting you and while this baby bonds you to him."

The little bit of patience Hunter was exerting to try to keep Andrew peaceful had finally snapped. He stood up and clenched his fists, his entire body rigid with rage. He'd done a very good job of staying quiet so that they could hear Andrew's reasoning for the sick thing he was doing. "Give us our son, you fucking asshole!"

"Speak to me that way again and you'll never see him again," was his cool reply.

Stephanie tugged on Hunter's hand and he looked down at her. Her eyes were begging him to control his temper. She was just as pissed off and scared as he was. But they had to hold it together and play by this freak's rules if they wanted to get Jack to safety.

Hunter didn't relax his position and continued to clench and unclench his fists.

Despite her aching body, Stephanie got up from the bed again. "What do you want from me?" She asked, but she was almost afraid of the answer.

Andrew's eyes softened when he looked at her. "I want us to go away together. Leave Hunter here to raise his demon-spawn alone. You and I will start our own family."

Inwardly, she cringed and her stomach lurched at the idea of touching this man for anything other than to cause him physical harm. There was a reason she'd left his sorry ass in the first place. Did he really think that she would just willingly leave her husband and child behind to run off with him?

Speculatively, she eyed him. _No, he doesn't think I'll leave willingly. That's why he has Jack. _She nodded. "Fine."

Hunter's head spun around. "What?" He asked incredulously. "Stephanie, no," he said looking her in the eyes very seriously.

"I have to, Hunter!"

"No," he repeated, shaking his head vehemently. "I'm not just going to let you trade yourself like this. Who knows what he'll do to you!"

The look they exchanged said that they both realized Andrew had made his intentions rather clear.

Stephanie tried to silently communicate to him that this wasn't by choice. If Andrew so much as dropped Jack, it could cause irreparable damage to his little body and mind. That couldn't happen. Not when she had the power to stop it. She nodded meaningfully and arched an eyebrow. "I want to," she said calmly before picking her purse up from the floor.

The tone of her voice conveyed that she was anything but calm. She didn't want this. He could see it in her eyes. But, there was something else there, too. Something that he couldn't pin because his head was in twenty different directions. He loved Jack and Stephanie unconditionally. Trading one for the other was unbearable. Yes, Stephanie had a greater chance of defending herself than Jack did, but that didn't make this any better.

Behind them, Andrew laughed and talked to the baby. "See? You're going to stay with your father and he'll find you a new mother," he soothed the faintly whimpering infant.

If he'd bothered to pay more attention to Hunter and Stephanie rather than being wrapped up in his own smug thoughts, he would have seen her mouth "trust me," to her husband.

By the time he looked up, the duo was staring at each other intently. Hunter didn't like this. Not one damn bit. He trusted Stephanie implicitly, but she was tired, stressed out and sore. She clearly had a plan, but what was it? Even if her body was in tip top shape, she wasn't strong enough to fight Test off. No plan she could have to attempt to do that was okay by him.

She gave her husband a pained look before turning back around to face Andrew. "I'll go with you. But give the baby to Hunter."

Andrew smiled and wiggled a finger playfully. "So that he can just sit him down on the bed and come after me? I think not. What we're going to do is go outside. Follow me," he instructed. He felt comfortable enough in his position to turn his back to them. If anyone tried to hit him, he'd drop the kid with no questions asked. They were clearly fond of the brat, so they wouldn't risk it.

Stephanie and Hunter followed in silence. Andrew stopped at the clearing of elevators and pressed the button to call one up.

Andrew rocked Jack in his arms casually as they waited. As if he was the father. He turned to the actual parents and said, "Steph and I will get on the elevator. I'll hand you the baby right before the doors close."

Hunter's mind worked quickly. Andrew was counting on the fact that they were so far from their room that he wouldn't be able to put Jack down to come and kick his ass. By the time he got his son to safety, his wife would be gone. Hunter didn't know whether or not Andrew was carrying any kind of weapon. To restrain Jack, he obviously didn't need it. And though Stephanie would thrash wildly as soon as Jack was with him, she'd be no match for Andrew.

_He must have a weapon hidden somewhere, _Hunter decided. Stephanie would scream bloody murder as he tried to get her past the staff and out of the hospital. Surely he had something to keep her quiet.

Hunter just had no damn idea what to do. But, he was out of time. The elevator dinged and opened. Andrew gestured for Stephanie to get on first and she did. Andrew stepped on after her and held Jack with one arm. He reached into his front pocket, lifting the blade just high enough for both Hunter and Stephanie to see it before letting it rest in his grip at his side loosely.

Why the hell did his wife look so composed? A crazy person was threatening their child and was using the infant as a bargaining chip to kidnap and force himself on her. She should look terrified. Instead, she just looked extremely annoyed. Like she was simply inconvenienced and no one's welfare was in jeopardy.

Stephanie watched Andrew press the button for the lobby. He extended Jack to Hunter and she breathed a sigh of relief when he was safely in his Dad's arms. She stared directly at Hunter and shifted the strap of her purse.

The realization dawned on him as Andrew smiled triumphantly and Stephanie reached in her bag.

His wife quickly used her other hand to stop the elevator from closing and concurrently set off the fire alarm. Andrew reached out to grab her as he swung the blade in her direction. Anticipating his move, she side-stepped him and pressed the stun gun to his throat. The knife fell from the man's shaking fingers.

The weapon hissed menacingly as she continued to hold the prongs against his skin. She watched with morbid satisfaction as Andrew convulsed and finally dropped to the ground.

Hunter barely heard her voice over the sound of the alarm. But when she pressed the weapon to the man's crotch, he managed to make out a really creative and vulgar string of profanity.

Once she was satisfied that the would-be kidnapper was incapacitated enough for her to stop shocking him, she straightened her posture. She turned to leave, but the mild stinging changed her mind. The psycho had managed to cut her arm. She extended her leg and kicked Andrew in the ribs just for good measure. "Bastard!" Was her hissed insult.

Hunter held their son out to her and her eyes softened immediately as she quickly stepped off the elevator. "Take Jack," he instructed stiffly.

Stephanie eagerly reached out and clutched their sleeping infant to her chest tightly. She hardly batted an eyelash when Hunter mounted Andrew and started smashing his face in using his fists. All she could concentrate on was the fact that her son was safe. Andrew's muffled, nearly unconscious grunts and the blaring of the alarms weren't getting to her at all. She rubbed her cheek against Jack's affectionately, her lips curved up in a smile.

She was so lost in her little world of contentment that she didn't realize her father and brother had just stepped off the other elevator. It wasn't until they ran across her line of vision and each of them grabbed one of Hunter's arms, pulling him off of a bloody-faced Andrew while dragging him out of the elevator that she realized they were here.

Stephanie continued to rock Jack in her arms. Her eyebrows drew together in concern when her husband made no move to get off of the floor despite the fact he was no longer being restrained. Instead he just leaned forward and pressed his palms to his eyes.

Shane and Vince figured it appeared unnecessary to explain to her what they had found out and discussed earlier. Andrew's lack of consciousness said that Hunter and Stephanie were already well aware of what he'd been up to. They had intended to confront Andrew at the arena for his actions and felt a sense of dread when he was nowhere to be found. They were hoping that he hadn't come to the hospital, but either way they needed to warn Hunter and Stephanie.

Vince reached out and took his first and only grandchild, while Shane motioned that his sister needed to go to her husband. She dropped down to the floor beside Hunter and pulled his hands down from his face.

Blue eyes scanned hazel ones and she noticed that they were tinged pink, but not too watery. Meaning that he was on the verge of losing it and was trying not to. She felt her own tears prick the back of her eyes as the weight of everything came crashing down around her. She reached out to Hunter and he embraced her fervently, burying his face into her hair.

Neither of them moved from their spot, but they heard the commotion all around them as doctors, nurses, staff and security guards surrounded them, chattering anxiously, trying to see what the hell was going on.

It was over. No more stalker madness, no more crumbling marriage. All that was present and intact was their family.


	22. Greetings

Meh. Decided to double post so that this story is officially over. LOL. There was no point in holding out since it was already written and all. Just had to touch it up by doing research to find out birthdays, criminal punishments and such. Again, thanks so much for the support on this one. Hope you've all enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! This chapter/epilogue/whatever is fluffy and lighthearted. Seemed like a good way to end an otherwise mostly broody fic :-)

* * *

In Nevada, kidnapping was a charge that potentially carried a life sentence all on its own. Combined with the charge of aggravated assault and the fact that he was so confident he wouldn't be convicted that he'd merely used a public defender, Andrew's chances of retaining his freedom were already not very good. Andrew had called in his friend and partner, Albert to testify on his behalf. He was supposed to help provide reasonable doubt to the truthfulness of the claims by saying that Andrew was nonviolent. He even went so far as to try to say that this uncharacteristic behavior was caused by the love of his life leaving him high and dry. The defense claimed that Stephanie and Hunter's actions and impending parenthood had caused Andrew to snap, feeling like they had the life that should have been his. This approach was unsuccessful because it opened the door for the prosecution to bring Andrew's character history into question. It turned out that just 8 years prior Andrew had been convicted of attempting to kidnap another woman. She pepper sprayed him and called the police immediately. Andrew took a plea bargain consisting of a fine, community service and the act going on record as an infraction. The offense wouldn't show up unless a deep level background search was performed. The false police report he'd filed alleging that Hunter had abused Stephanie also came into play. Given his history and the fact he'd almost harmed an innocent child, his sentence ended up being life with the possibility of parole after 35 years.

Six years later

Some things had stayed the same. Stephanie and Hunter's marriage was still as strong as it had been the day Jack was born. Their son's health continued to be good and he suffered no ill effects from his slightly premature arrival.

But, some things had changed.

Hunter had returned to the ring full-time when Jack was four months old. Hunter would fly home on Friday mornings and then fly to wherever Raw was being held on Sunday night. After Jack's first birthday, Stephanie decided that he was now old enough to travel somewhat extensively. She and Jack would fly to where Hunter was to attend Smackdown on Thursday. They would stay until Sunday afternoon and fly back to Greenwich so that Stephanie could go to work Monday morning. This allowed the family to spend an extra day together.

When Stephanie was six months pregnant with the twins, they went back to the default visiting plan of Hunter flying down for the weekend. Once the newest additions to their family were born, Hunter retired from in-ring work for the most part. He was now more or less a talent scout for the WWE Corporate office. They worked together, but rather indirectly. It was his job to find people that were potentially talented. Then, he passed them over to her department and she decided what the terms of the contract, if any, would be. His position required more travel than hers did, but it was certainly less hectic than what they'd previously been subjected to.

Marissa and Shane now had two kids. A four year old boy named Declan James and a two year old girl named Jennifer Kennedy. They were adorable and had the physical traits of their parents split right down the middle.

Kevin had found a great woman and ended up remarrying. They had a baby girl on the way.

Shawn and his wife Rebecca had two kids. Cameron was now 8 and Cheyenne was almost 4.

Jack idolized his father, grandfather, uncle and adoptive uncles. All of whom would be in attendance with their families today. He liked watching old clips of them in the ring and was so proud to be close to them all. Hunter and Stephanie were determined to not force their son into the business and allowed him to try just about anything he wanted. So far, he really loved to play baseball and soccer. And he was considering taking up karate.

Stephanie and Hunter's house would be overrun by children of all ages and sizes in just a couple of hours. Jack's sixth birthday was in two days and the twins turned four on the previous day. Needless to say, they would be bombarded with kids that were on their way to preschool and first grade.

In general, the latter part of the summer and beginning of the fall tended to be filled with parties and gifts since Marissa's birthday was in the beginning of July, Hunter's was at the end of July, the kids' were in the beginning of August, Vince's was in late August, Stephanie's was in late September and Linda's was in the beginning of October.

The woman of the house was in the kitchen putting the various types of seasoned meat into the refrigerator. Hunter was out picking up the huge sheet cake for the kids' party. It officially started in three hours and when it did, her husband would make a start to cooking the burgers, chicken, fish and hot dogs. "Jackson!" Stephanie yelled in the direction of the living room. "Get the twins and come in here."

"Okay, Mommy," his adorable voice replied obediently before she heard his footsteps scurry up the stairs.

Stephanie smiled at his tone. Whenever they used his full first name, he knew they meant business. And when she'd last seen him, he'd been glued to the large television in the living room playing video games. She and Hunter had made breakfast right before he ran out to get the cake. He'd yelled out that it was ready, as he exited the house. But his kids were all too busy enjoying whatever it was they were doing to care about food apparently.

This time, she heard multiple feet come bounding in her direction.

"We in trouble?" Two of her little people asked in perfect unison.

Stephanie turned around to look at her daughters. Hunter liked to joke that when the twins were older and out with their mother, the three of them would look like triplets. Karmina Reece and Kaycee Samantha Helmsley both had perfect copies of Stephanie's eyes, nose, cheekbones, ears and chin. The dimpled cheeks was a contribution that both parents had made to their looks. Hunter found it remarkable that there was not one, but two spitting images of his wife running around. If it wasn't for their wavy, light brown hair he and everyone else would think that Stephanie somehow managed to make the girls all by herself.

She smiled warmly at her mini-me's. "No, you're not in trouble. But you three need to eat something before your party."

Karmina was older than her sister by two minutes and had the surname of her husband's favorite foster parents as a middle name. She whacked her older brother on the arm. "Stupid head!" She accused.

"No hitting each other or name-calling, Karm," Stephanie chastised lightly before pointing a finger at the kitchen table, indicating that they were all to sit down. She wasn't going to bother saying any more than that. Jack often had a habit of purposely making his sisters think that they were in trouble when they weren't. He just loved to bother and annoy them because he was the only boy. He didn't count his father seeing as he was a grown man and completely wrapped around his little sisters' fingers.

As she moved to take a seat at the table with her kids, she ruffled Jack's hair. He laughed and swatted her hand away. "Stop Mommy," he complained, pushing the long, medium-brown curls out of his currently green eyes. Stephanie and Hunter liked to describe them as 'the world' because when they were in the process of changing colors, there was blue, green and brown present all at once. Blue was usually on the edges, surrounding the hazel. Their description of his eyes was appropriate because Jack meant the world to them. He had Hunter's ears, curly hair and eye shape and Stephanie's nose, chin and most of her hair color. When his mother leaned down to kiss his cheek, his dimples made an appearance as he smiled. He truly was a mama's boy, but he also worshipped the ground his father walked on. "Is Daddy gonna be back to fix my hair?" He asked.

Stephanie smirked at her son. He definitely got his impatience from her husband. At least that's what she told herself. She was known to get quite antsy when she really wanted something, too. "I could do it for you, you know," she offered. But, she knew her son would decline. For some reason he would only let Hunter touch his hair. It was probably some strange male-bonding thing. Or maybe he worried that she would give him pigtails or twists like she did with his sisters.

Jack immediately stopped eating and covered his head with both hands as if his mother were trying to attack him. "No!" He exclaimed. "Only Daddy does it."

A low snicker made its way past her lips as she shook her head and forked a piece of pancake. "Your Dad just went a few minutes away. He'll be back in time." All Hunter did to the boy's hair usually was wet it and slick it back into a naturally curly ponytail. Maybe her son's admiration for his father made him only trust Hunter to be able to recreate his signature styles or something.

Kaycee flicked her wavy ponytail over her little shoulder and scrunched her nose up at her brother. "Weirdo," was all she said.

"Sam," Stephanie addressed her youngest child by part of her middle name – which happened to be the first name of Hunter's favorite foster mother. When she widened her blue eyes before pouting, Stephanie knew the little girl sensed she was about to be reprimanded. She arched a brow and asked, "What did I say about name calling?"

"Sorry," Kaycee apologized softly.

Jack couldn't help himself. He pointed and grinned before sticking his tongue out.

"Leave your sisters alone, Jackson Nicholas."

Jack instantly started to sulk. His mom wasn't fooling around. He continued to eat his breakfast and ignored the urge to tease his sisters some more. It was his favorite past time. They were just such easy targets.

They all heard the rumble of Hunter's truck entering the garage. After finding out that they were expecting twins, he'd given up the red Mercedes sedan and purchased a dark gold Mercedes Benz M-Class SUV. The vehicle was rated as one of the safest SUV's and also had the capacity to tow a good amount and go off-road. Stephanie had gotten rid of her BMW sedan for a black Acura RDX SUV. Aside from its safety, it was known for its great handling and ability to navigate city streets. It wasn't suited for going off-road or towing. But given the fact that her husband's truck was, she didn't find it necessary to have those features.

Hunter's current project was trying to get Stephanie to entertain the idea of having another baby. Since twins must have obviously run on his unknown side of the family, she was worried about ending up with another two kids or more. And Jack would probably have a conniption if he ended up with another pair of sisters. Currently, she was on the pill to stop that from happening.

It took her husband a little longer than usual to come in the house, but she inwardly smiled as she ignored her anxious children. They had no idea they would be having a gigantic cake at their party. They thought there would only be food, ice cream, a bounce house and fun in the pool. Hunter was putting the dessert in the cooler in the garage.

"Hey," he greeted his family with a smile as he walked into the kitchen.

"Daddy!" The three kids exclaimed all at once.

Hunter smiled as he moved in the direction of the last seat at the kitchen table. He never got tired of hearing their enthused greetings. He loved them infinitely and just the use of that word had the capability to turn him to complete mush. He spoiled the hell out of them and didn't care what anybody had to say about it. His children were wonderful and he had no qualms about letting them know that.

Stephanie cleared her throat and coughed loudly from the other end of the table. "Hi, Daddy," she told him with a wink as she beckoned him over by crooking her finger.

Hunter grinned mischievously and abandoned the task of pulling his chair out. He wandered over to his wife and leaned down to kiss her awaiting lips passionately. For those few moments, they forgot the kids were there. After years of seeing their parents embrace, they didn't have it in them to be disgusted. They were pleased that their Mom and Dad were together and happy, unlike some of their friends' parents.

They broke apart and gazed at each other lovingly. Hunter never got tired of Stephanie's way of greeting him, either.


End file.
